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based on a production Olympus E-M1 with Firmware 1.0
The biggest technological step forward on the E-M1 is the addition of on-sensor phase detection elements, giving the camera two distinct focus modes. The phase-detection system is used when lenses from the original Four Thirds system, which were designed for use that way, are attached. With native, Micro Four Thirds lenses, the camera will mainly stick with the contrast detection system that has proved so fast and accurate on the E-M5. Only if you use tracking AF will the camera utilize phase-detection information with a Micro Four Thirds lens.
The E-M1 also gains the excellent 2.3m-dot electronic viewfinder panel we first saw as the VF-4 accessory for the PEN E-P5. Not only is the resolution very impressive, but the viewfinder optics give a viewfinder with magnification of up to 1.48x (depending on display mode), which puts it only a fraction behind the 0.76x viewfinder in Canon's 1D X and ahead of Nikon's pro-grade D4 DSLRs.
There's also a more advanced processor in the E-M1 that conducts a variety of lens corrections, when creating JPEGs, leading the company to proclaim the best image quality offered by one of its cameras. These corrections, enabled by the company's latest, TruePic VII processor, include correcting for chromatic aberation and correcting sharpness on a per-lens basis.
The biggest difference between the E-M1 and the E-M5, though, is the degree of direct control on offer. We really liked the E-M5's twin-dial control system, but the E-M1 goes beyond that by providing button-and-dial combinations for quickly changing almost every imaginable setting on the camera, quickly. It's the kind of approach you don't usually get until the very top of manufacturers' lineups - it means you have to get used to where every function is, but can shoot fluidly once you have.
However, this direct control doesn't come at the expense of the potentially slower but easier to find touch-screen interface. The E-M1 can be operated pretty much however you fancy.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 specification highlights:
- 16MP MOS Four Thirds format sensor with no low-pass filter
- On-sensor phase detection elements
- Twin control dials (front and rear) with '2x2' dual-mode option
- '5-axis' image stabilization with automatic panning detection ('S-IS Auto')
- ISO 'LOW' (100 equiv) - ISO 25,600
- Up to 10fps continuous shooting (6.5 fps shooting with continuous AF)
- 1.04M-dot 3" LCD touchscreen display - tilts 80° upwards and 50° downwards
- Electronic viewfinder: 2.36M-dot LCD, 0.74x magnification (equiv.), eye sensor
- Built-in Wi-Fi for remote shooting and image transfer to smartphone or tablet
Gained over the E-M5
- True Pic VII processor, with lens corrections
- 1/8000 sec top shutter speed, 1/320 sec flash sync
- Built-in microphone socket (rather than optional accessory adapter)
- Flash X-sync socket
- Built-in Wi-Fi
- Focus 'peaking' display
- In-camera HDR blending (two modes)
Four Thirds is dead. Long live Four Thirds
As well as representing the highest-end Micro Four Thirds camera yet, the E-M1's role is also about offering continued support for users of the original Four Thirds system. Olympus created some very nice lenses for the Four Thirds system, but the company struggled to make enough impact in the market to justify the cost of continuing development for both systems in parallel.
We'll look at the performance of the camera with Four Thirds lenses in a little more depth later in this article, but, in principle, the on-sensor phase detection autofocus system should be much more effective when it comes to controlling Four Thirds lenses, all of which were primarily designed to be driven by phase detection-based systems.
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