Olympus says the OM-D E-M1 is a mirrorless camera that can replace your DSLR
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Olympus has finally revealed the camera that brings to an end its run in the DSLR market. It’s a flagship mirrorless system camera called the OM-D E-M1 and the company says it is fully compatible with both Four Thirds DSLR lenses and lenses for Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras. You do need need an adapter to fit Four Thirds lenses onto the E-M1, which is natively a Micro Four Thirds camera. Olympus UK is offering free adapters to E-M1 purchasers, by redemption, for a limited period.
The E-M1’s main new feature is Olympus’ first implementation of on-sensor phase detection focus sensing, hence the emphasis on Four Thirds lens compatibility. You have been able to use Four Thirds lenses on Micro Four Thirds cameras before but focus performance has been slow and sometimes unreliable because until now these cameras have relied on contrast detection focus sensing.
Being Olympus’ flagship camera the E-M1 is a high-specification environmentally-sealed camera with a magnesium alloy body and a maximum sequential shooting rate of 10 frames per second. A new 12-40mm (equivalent to a full frame 24-80mm lens) f/2.8 constant aperture ‘Pro’ lens has been developed to serve as the E-M1’s kit zoom lens. Although relatively large for a Micro Four Thirds camera, the E-M1 is much smaller than most DSLRs.
An Olympus DSLR has not been launched since its range-topping Four Thirds system E-5 camera in 2010. At the time Olympus management hinted that this would be their last DSLR as they focused their resources on developing Micro Four Thirds Pen and, later, OM-D Micro Four Thirds cameras. However, Olympus denied that support for E-System DSLR users was also ending. What has followed over the last three years has been continuous speculation in the Olympus world as to what Olympus would do to honour their promise of continued support for their DSLR faithful.
Only mixed success can be claimed by Olympus with its Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras. Mirrorless compact system cameras have sold well in Asia and in certain other parts of the world, including the UK, but sales have not met expectations in the US and in many European countries, where DSLR sales, although flat, have not declined like they have in Asia.
Olympus has done well in Asia but, as with its mirrorless rivals at Samsung, Panasonic, and Sony, Olympus hasn’t been able to enjoy consistent success in other markets. However, the OM-D E-M5 has, in particular, been a best-seller for Olympus despite its high-specification and price. Retro OM film SLR looks as well as solid performance seem to have been key to E-M5 sales and Olympus has maintained these factors in the new E-M1.
The E-M1 will ship in early October although the 12-40mm zoom will follow a few weeks later.
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