The japanese website DC.watch (Click here for the terrible google translation) interviewed the Olympus E-M5 developer team. Sadly the google translation tool makes a bad job and it’s quite frustrating to read the text. From what I understood there is no BIG info. But may you read it and let me know if you found something I missed. P.S.: They said that there is no significant difference between the amount of Silver or Black E-M5 pre orders. At the same time DC.watch posted an E-m5 review too!
Meantime DSRLcheck keeps posting new mirrorless camera comparisons:
RAW ISO comparison between the XPRO 1, NEX-7, E-M5, GX1 and E-PM1: http://dslr-check.info/2012/0416.jpg
50mm JPEG comparison between the X PRO 1 and E-M5: http://dslr-check.info/2012/0418b.jpg
Japan is already shipping the E-M5 and it is the most sold mirrorless camera at Amazon Japan (See the links below to open the charts):
Today Rankings:
USA: E-M5 on position 8/10/12/17 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 19 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 12/15 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 1/9/10/13 (Click here).
E-M5 (Pre)order links (Click on store name): Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.
46 Responses
First wowww !!!
thank You guys for excellent, user oriented camera
Which one is Woodford?
*note to self* …must not write stupid comments when viewing 43rumors from mobile phone
On the contrary, sir. You made me chuckle. You deserve a pint.
Excellent interview. Must read.
Number One in Japan now!
Number One in Asia, US, Americas, Europe, Australia, Africa … soon!
Congratulations to the Olympus OM-D E-M5-Developer Team and the whole Olympus stuff of the Imaging Division and Marketing Department!
Best regards
Dream team, World Champions!
Take the pen3 add a hump with the old viewfinder, weathersealing, source for a slightly better sensor after 4 years, warm up the om franchise, improve ibis for one axis, sell the camera over and over again with clever marketing. In the meantime i wait for the real om fullframe om
Not gonna happen so why don’t you just disappear
Canon basically did jack all between the 550D and 600D except add a swivel screen. I don’t see you crucifying them?
And it’s a bit more than what you’ve stated. It’s not an ep3 it’s a whole new sensor – which we’ve seen has marked improvement over the one used in the ep3. It is actually weathersealed – because so many other manufacturers offer weathersealed solutions at that pricepoint with their mirrorless offerings hey? They re-engineer IBIS in a way in which every other manufacturer probably will try and copy (remember everyone else has a 2 axis system against olys 5 (except canon with 1 lens)). Yes there may be some clever marketing but who doesn’t these days (Does ‘I AM’ ring any bells)? You sir are only slightly narrow minded – and when I say narrow minded, what I really mean is that you’re an ignorant prat.
Sure forgot it !!!!
Future is not , full frame , the future is tiny sensir with a diferent kind of tecnology !!!
What an idiot. Go back to your Canon or whatever desperate competitor’s camera you have.
You must love the new markIII than!
(I’m sure you’re a Canikon freak)
Oh you bet the mkiii is deliciouss!
Just buy an FF camera D800 or 5D III , if you want a mirrorles system just buy M9 ,.. Dat easy,.. No need to feed this blog with FF demand
The last full frame camera Olympus made was the OM4-Ti – (the 2000 was a Ricoh) what was it? 14-15 years ago now?
Keep waiting, I am sure you wont miss any photo opportunities over the next 14 years.
Well done guys but I wonder, if I’ve used the port to attached the flash, how am I supposed to use the microphone adapter which is also supposed to sit on the the same port?
Point of note, when I do film in lower light situations I also take photos with a flash. Having to detach and reattach isn’t the most practical.
Would be great if there was another port somewhere just for the external microphone. Thank you 🙂
Farrkuh I think you better off by buying another camera for that. You kinda answered into your own question.
You mean I should have a black AND a silver OMD so I can video and photograph with a flash without swapping ports 😉
Yes, exactly. You deserve it. And it still would be way cheaper than a canon 5dmk3 and lighter!
Theoretically, Olympus could create a new accessory which is a microphone-breakout cable, which attaches to the accessory port and provides a mic input on the end of a small cable/dongle (they could call it the Olympus SEMA-2). A videomic could then be mounted underneath the camera.
However, I don’t know how likely it would be for Olypmus to create something like this.
Alternatively a third-party company could produce such an accessory if they thought there was a market.
I had difficulties with the translation but concerning the DR, that has been much discussed here lately they say: 1/3 to 1/2 stage improvement in highlights and 1/2 stage in shadows. I assume “stage” really should be “step”. Total close to 1 step improvement is quite a lot, more than it may sound, and quite impressive results from “tweaking”!
The RAW high ISO comparison: No news here, X-pro1 being the current king in the high ISO race (excl “FF” sensors).
50mm comparison: Really not very useful with changing lighting conditions between exposures. Why publish this?
The best-selling new & future releases on Amazon US 2012-04-18
Olympus OM-D E-M5 16MP Live…
$1,299.00
Olympus OM-D E-M5 16MP Live…
$999.00
Olympus OM-D E-M5 16MP Live…
$1,299.00
1. Olympus say the thought to go mirrorless in 2008 (looks like Panny beat them to launch though)
2. new sensor is made somewhere on Planet Earth
3. art filters must be unique or have unique quality – good thinking (might be an idea for Olympus to license to video or photo editing software companies as a purchasable plugin) also personally would like to see colour versions of the grainy film art filter
4. I think Olympus will be pleasantly surprised at the amount of women who are or are intending to purchase the E-M5 (see O-MD flickr groups)
5. Olympus willl work harder to stay number 1 in the mirrorless market 😀
1. Olympus say the thought to go mirrorless in 2008 (looks like Panny beat them to launch though)
Strange… they announced m43 in summer 2008, and Panasonic even released a camera then. The m43 concept and standards, and thus the idea to make a mirrorless camera, must have been developed before that year.
The statement about going mirrorless is not totally clear: it can also (and more likely!) mean that their idea in 2008 was to create one small system camera for blogging, etc (the PEN line) and another, more serious line (the OM-D line). But I can only read the translation.
is it me or in photo comparison looks like the OMD is more close related to the Sony Nex than to the Panasonic GX1? Strange indeed and wouldn’t be surprised if rumors of processor being a Sony one are indeed correct …
Regarding of RAW image quality comparison:
The quality order is actually the order in which the cameras are presented. Though big difference can be observed just in case of X-Pro1 (far the best) and E-PM1 (far the worst). NEX-7, E-M5 and GX1 seem to be in the same ballpark.
So it takes 6 guys to develop a great camera. They just need a seventh to make it run Android… Make the camera connected and you open up entirely new user groups.
So it can lock up and freeze when you’re trying to capture ‘the decisive moment’?
No you’re confused, that’s MSWindows 😉
OK they been teasing me now for months i just want my camera pre-ordered 2 months ago!
Do they take photos of a fountain to simulate noise, so we can’t see the real noise?
No, they take photos of noise to simulate fountain… 😉
Yeah. Terrible shot. Show a black part of the frame, not a blue blotched section. It’s in the hard blacks where the em5 does noticeably better than GX1 and Nex7. (The x1pro is fantastic when it comes to IQ)
I really question the validity of the claim by Amazon that the E-M5 is top mirrorless camera in sales in Japan? The more representative BCN figures put the E-M5 in about 7th place after J1, GF3, GX1, NEX7, NEX5, and G3? The GX1 has a model in 5th place among all DSLRS while the nearest E-D5 model is in 28 place. I really find this suprising as the E-M5 is very popular in US and Europe for good reason. Seems the high price of E-M5 and size and/or shape has something to do with it being less popular in Japan? Maybe the bulk of E-M5 buyers already got their E-M5 on preorders?
For reference just do to DSLRphoto.com for the latest weekly rankings in Japan.
I’ve not seen anyone else in Japan with one, but it has sold out everywhere, so they certainly are selling here.
It’s not that highly priced either. I got my E-M5 for £920 (£1150 in UK) with the kit lens, it’s £740 (£1000 in UK) without lens, although the price has gone up since then. I think it’s good value for money considering what’s on offer. By the time it’s dropped to that price in the UK I would have owned the camera for 6 months at least I imagine. When I left (2 weeks ago) the EP3 was still £650 in the UK. So I don’t think price is an issue. The Japanese are certainly happy to pay out for quality too, especially if it comes from their own country.
The way it’s going, as long as Olympus can keep up production demand, I think it’ll top the charts in many countries soon enough. Maybe early May.
Whats that fourth guy holding?
even they don’t know who made the e-m5 sensor…
I like the way they button their jackets. The correct way, top button only for 2 button suit or middle button only for 3 button suit. Not the TV way where they try to get all the buttons done up, TV producers have no dress class and try to foist their strange ideas onto every body.
They can dress in mankini’s for all I care, they are the hero’s of the camera world for the moment, hopefully they can reap the rewards and get a bonus.
Well observed, and quite right as well. A gentleman all ways knows how a suit jacket should be buttoned.
Ha-ha, six men (no women!) dressing the same, looking the same. Well it does look a bit …
Olympus says in the interview;
1. “new 16MP + fine detail processing” would be almost same resolution as 20MP.
2. 2 stop improvement over E-P3 about high ISO shoot.
3. 1 stop improvement over E-P3 about DR.
4. AF is much improved over E-P3 which had the fastest AF but it was just for single AF not continuous. Now E-M5 has the fastest continuous AF ever which is 4.2fps. A 240fps sensor readout and a optimized lens both contribute to the fastest AF.
5. thinking of making an upper model of E-P5 and lower model in OM-D line sometime.
I guess almost all of them are you guys already knew.
From the looks on the guys faces the photographer must be shooting with a D4