Olympus OMD E M10 First Look by What Digital Camera.
This morning I posted a big E-M10 and lens roundup in this post: http://www.43rumors.com/live-olympus-e-m10-and-lenses-announced. A special page with all new products can be seen at Amazon (Click here).
Now let’s take a closer look to the first reviews:
Cameras Reviewed is the first site posting a full E-M10 review. They write:
Even though this version of the sensor includes an AA filter, we noticed no appreciable lack of sharpness when compared to the filter-less sensor in the E-M1.
Continuous shooting is a cinch thanks to the inherited E-M1 processor. Olympus promises 8 frames per second in continuous shooting, and we found that the E-M10 delivered; we measured exactly 8 fps in our standard test..
Quesabesde (translation here) is the only site in the world that got the permission to share some E-M10 RAW samples. And they checked if the E-M10 can outperform the E-M5 (ISO comparison table can be see here):
As expected, at 200 ISO there is no difference. But the improvement at ISO 6,400 is evident both in terms of reducing image noise and the level of detail that it retains.
DLSRmagazine (translation here) is the only site having tested the new 25mm f/1.8 lens (resolution table can be seen here):
As you can be seen from the resolution graph the lens offers a very high quality straight from the full f/1.8 aperture, which peaks at f/2.8. This is accompanied by good contrast, almost negligible astigmatism, limited chromatic aberration and almost absent vignetting and distortion.
For the reviewer the lens price is ok because you absolutely get what you pay for!
Preorder links for US and Europe:
Special page with all new products at Amazon.
E-M10 Black at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, GetOlympus. In EU at Wex UK, Amazon Germany.
E-M10 Silver at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, GetOlympus. In EU at Wex UK, Amazon Germany.
E-M10 with 14-42mm lens Black at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama , GetOlympus. In EU at Wex UK, Amazon Germany.
E-M10 with 14-42mm lens Silver at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, GetOlympus. In EU at Wex UK, Amazon Germany.
25mm f/1.8 Black at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, GetOlympus. In EU at Wex UK, Amazon Germany.
25mm f/1.8 Silver at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, GetOlympus. In EU at Wex UK, Amazon Germany.
14-42mm Black at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, GetOlympus. In EU at Wex UK, Amazon Germany.
14-42mm Silver at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, GetOlympus. In EU at Wex UK, Amazon Germany.
Olympus SP-100 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama.
Olympus TG-850 iHS at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama.
Olympus ECG-1 Black Camera Grip for E-M10 at Amazon, Adorama.
Olympus 9mm f8.0 Fisheye Body Cap Lens at Adorama, GetOlympus. In EU at Wex Uk.
Olympus V321200BW000 Macro Converter MCON-P02 (Black) at Amazon,
47 Responses
I read the translated 25/1.8 review. Accessories are listed:
“Included Accessories Tapas and parasol ”
Who said Olympus can’t supply accessories? This is a world first, right here. It’s great seeing a manufacturer listening to feedback from photographers!
What do you mean worlds first? Does Panasonic, Fuji, Sony, etc not listen to feedback?!
At least not with tapas and parasols… (Auto translate is fun 😉 )
why so serious?
Tapas and Parasol? If they added some Margarita, I would be sold!
I left them a message asking about that. The lens caps are a given, but I find it strange that this lens would include a hood.
(Unless they mean some delicious Spanish “Tapas” and those tiny umbrellas they put in cocktails.)
This is shaping up to b a great addition. There has been conflicting reports on whether or not there is an AA filter.
I hope the 9mm is slightly less of a toy than the other body cap lens.
The 15mm had virtually no point when you could buy a split kit 14mm 2.5 for nearly the same price.
9mm is far more interesting but at launch price of £89 it’s too much for me for something like a holga plastic piece of rubbish.
Ultra wide you want reasonably sharp corners, you’re not going to be using for portraits or anything indoor at f8…
25mm looks great, me want! Any MFT lens that I don’t have masses of purple fringing is a winner!
The 25 f1.8 is tempting even I already own the panny 1.4. Size and weight may win the day. Also if it doesnt have the aperture rattling which happens on the panny in some situations it may swing me over.
The grip option looks nice actually. More so than the em5
Quote from Camerasreviewed E-M10 test: ‘E-M5 onwers should note that a Firmware update is on the way to enable focus peaking…’ No date is mentioned.
Interesting, since Olympus released a firmware update today that enables low iso and smaller focus points on the E-M5, but they didn’t mention focus peaking in the release notes…maybe they cancelled it in the last minute? Or it is a somewhat hidden feature, undetected by the upgraders? Or will it come in a second update for technical reasons?
IF correct I would assume it will (maybe) come in a second update, for technical reasons, as you suggest.
The E-M5 HAS focus peaking even now. The feature is not present in the specifications or the manual but you can easily find instructions in the Internet how to tweak your camera. (Also here, in 43rumors.) Somewhat complicated, but I followed them on my E-PM2 and now it does focus peaking. Yes! A great feature indeed, focus is instantly nailed with manual lenses.
Do you mean the Key Line art filter?
Yes, but has to be set up properly.
Samples E-M10 appear less sharp than E-M5.
After all E-M10 have 5-axis stabilization in video mode, min 4:10 video by Jamie McDonald
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFSrwLuS9ZY
That sounds fishy. It’s not mentioned in the Olympus website.
There is already a fake 5-axis IBIS in their SH 50 compact camera, Olympus called it “Hybrid sensor shift + digital (5-axis)” for Video while for stills there is a “Mechanical Image Stabiliser (3-axis Sensor shift)”
see:
http://www.olympus.co.uk/site/en/c/cameras/digital_cameras/traveller/sh_50/sh_50_specifications.html#sthash.APr9JVgh.dpuf
I guess it’s the same system as in the E-M10. I watched SH 50 video tests and unfortunately I definitley see wobble effects, unlike in E-M5 and E-M1 videos (the E-M5 videos have other issues)
Would’ve bought the 25mm /1.8 without any hesitation – IF it had been weatherproof. I’ll end up saving my pennies for the 12-40/2.8
+1.8
My only hope is that this concluded the standard primes. In the future perhaps they’ll have optimus primes that are f/1.1 and weathersealed albeit larger.
optimus primes 😀
The 25mm looks wonderful! Sharp across the frame from wide open, nearly CA free, quick and silent AF, small and light, bokeh seems good, well, I’m 99% sold aready 🙂
I find a good normal prime essential. So much so that I have two of them: a Voigty and an older D Summilux. However, neither is light nor easy to use (at least the Voigtlander doesn’t make noise when focusing). In due course I might consider a native option, so my interest in Oly’s 25 is more than academic. So far so good, although the PanaLeica DG will be hard to match.
LOL- hard to match at WHICH aperture? At FULL it’s a dog.
Even the 25/1.8 is much better at 2.8 than at 1.8.
You feature collectors will never learn, photography a distant goal 🙂
Well, for me the benchmark would be about f/2. I don’t require absolute sharpness, but would appreciate as little OOF mess as possible. I like the structured “bokeh” of the D version and the DG seems to replicate it despite containing half the glass. OTOH the colours produced with Olympus lenses are an advantage over the (constipated) alternative. I suppose time will tell.
Of course you are right : 2.8 aperture is the sweet spot, even easier to reach when fee of ultrafast lenses constraints… By the way, aren’t you a 19mm Sigma owner ?
Makes me wonder how many fast primes you ever used, if any at all. Just because 1.8/25 is optimal at f2.8 does not make it unusable at f1.8.
amalric is well known big sigma 2.8 lenses fan ….as they are best at their fastest apperture
i really wonder how it is compared to the pany 20mm f1.7
It can’t possibly be any slower, and I’ll probably buy it for that reason even if the image quality isn’t quite as good.
Hi,
I’m the author of the Reviewed.com E-M10 review. Admin pulled quotes from a slightly older version of the review. Continuous shooting speed was clocked at exactly 8 fps. If you hop on over to read my review, the text reflects that change.
-brendan
Thanks for letting me know this. I will update the quote now!
I just pre-ordered the 25. While I really like the PL25, i love my Oly 45. If the 25 performs anything like that, I’ll be selling the PL25. The size of the Oly 25 is enticing to me, also. 2/3 of a stop really means nothing to me, especially with IBIS.
Also, I can’t be totally sure, but the Panasonic lenses don’t seem to focus as quickly on the Olympus bodies. Well, it’s known that the 14 and 20 are slow. My 17 and 45 definitely seem to focus much faster and more accurately than the PL25.
wow, what a big difference between E-M5 and E-M10 at ISO 6400, I wouldn’t say “outperform” to that 😉
my 35-100mm pany focus fine on my omd thinking of buying more pany lens
i would have bought the 150mm f2.8 shame they canned it
25mm looks ok but no weather sealing
hopefully there will now be some better news
a new supertelephoto lens
weath sealed wide angle
the 40-150mm f2.8 in shops this year
something i would buy would be its weird to have money in my camera gear acount
the new small AF points work well low ISO not going to be much use at the
moment maby in the summer
599eur for the body price is good price in compare with other m43 cameras
bit surprise for me
this announcement is bit modestly & simple …almost nothing about the lens …no real pictures …will go at least read about that em10
799 euro at amazon.de with the new 14-42 lens, not so bad i think…
Does anyone know if the em-10 does in camera CA correction like the em-1 or not, like the em-5?
Everyone quieten down please, I call for a minutes silence as we mark the passing of our beloved, but now departed Panny Troll.
Some of you might not be aware, but Panny Troll recently attended a feast generously put on by Olympus with no hard feelings. Olympus started the feast with an entre of E-M10 which had no obvious serious flaws and was not priced as if it were made of solid silver. Saddly, Panny Troll was observed by some guests to have gone a little green about the gills at this point and seemed to display signs of gastric discomfort.
For the main course, Olympus delivered a nicely baked 25mm f1.8 lens that delivered performance to match it’s price. A guest reported that Panny Troll clutched at his chest in distress on realizing the garnish was in fact a lens hood that was included. It was obvious to other guests, by this point, that Panny Troll was in serious physical distress, but he apparently refused to leave the table when it was suggested.
For desert, Olympus delivered an E-M5 firmware update that added new features. This is thought by some to have been the point of no-return for poor Panny Troll and he was seen to clutch at his throat, as if he had difficulty breathing, and he was seen to struggle agitatedly with his tie in an an attempt to loosen it.
Coffee was then served with a wafer thin mint wrapped in an elegant foil with an inscription written inside that noted that there would be a further firmware update forthcoming which would deliver focus peaking to the E-M5.
There seems to be a general consensus that this wafer thin mint delivered the coup de grâce in a way that is eerily reminiscent of the final scenes in the Monty Python film – The Meaning of Life.
The autopsy report states that the cause of death was regurgitation of a large quantity of bile on which he chocked to death. At least one guest, who wishes to remain anonymous, said this end was fitting.
Panny Troll will be laid to rest beside his longtime partner, Full Fat, who died tragically in a car accident that was attributed to new glasses with lenses made by Fuji which apparently couldn’t focus fast enough at a critical juncture, causing full Fat to fail to take a bend and plow into a camera store at full speed.
May they both rest in peace.
A Pany guy here. Does it have good video quality, and is the three axis physical IBIS enabled in video mode?
well, that’s too bad. I’m sorry to hear that.
Say what you want, he was a useful guy, quite adept at shooting movies like others couldn’t quite do. Competition also kept things going at a good pace.
Lol, very funny, and so true………
Here a review with ISO comparison between the E-M10 and E-M5, Fuji X-pro 1 etc.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/olympus-e-m10/olympus-e-m10A.HTM
How you think the picture quality is compared to the E-M5? The pictures of the E-M10 seem more smudgy to me at higher ISO (1600)?
Just a heads up. Amazon UK is now accepting pre-orders for the EM10, 25mm and 14-42mm. The products are not yet showing in their search results, but I have linked to them directly from my website at http://www.olympuslinks.co.uk. Pre-order before the rush to beat the queue!