Olympus' high-end OM-D E-M1 Mark II mirrorless camera gets a price, launch window

[Shawn Knight]

Olympus unveiled the OM-D E-M1 Mark II at Photokina 2016 last September, the successor to their flagship OM-D E-M1 mirrorless camera that's been around for a few years now.

There’s a lot to love about the OM-D E-M1 Mark II although two key bits of information – its price and release date – were glaringly absent from its announcement. Olympus has filled in the missing pieces of the puzzle this week and predictably, it won’t come cheap.

Olympus tells us that the refreshed shooter will go on sale at the end of December with an MSRP of $1,999.99 for just the body (no lens included). In the UK, expect to pay £1,849.99 including VAT for the body or £2,399.99 for the body with Olympus’ excellent M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens.

As a quick refresher, the weatherproof Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II features a 20.4-megapixel live MOS sensor and a TruePic VIII image processor that’s capable of shooting 18 frames per second with continuous focus enabled or up to 60 frames a second with the focus locked.

You also get a five-axis image stabilization system, a new 121-point all-cross-type, on-chip phase detection and contrast detection autofocus system, two SD card slots, a 50-megapixel high-resolution mode, a battery that lasts 37 percent longer and a charger that does its job 50 percent faster, among other features.

If you’ve yet to give a pro-level mirrorless camera like this a try, you’ll likely be shocked at what it’s capable of.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/66904-olympus-high-end-om-d-e-m1-mark.html

 

[yRaz]

They want $2000 for a 4/3 crop sensor? If you want on the mirrorless bandwagon get a full frame sony A7R for the same price.

 

[Wendig0]

I have an OM-D E-M5 that I bought a few years ago, and while it took excellent photos, it was the worst camera I've ever owned. There was a problem with the OM-D E-M5 bodies that Olympus refused to address (I don't know if they changed the design in later models). The problem was a design flaw in the battery compartment, where the battery contacts became compressed to the point that the wouldn't spring back. This caused the camera to randomly turn off from not making a solid contact with the battery, and made using the camera in any kind of professional setting a real headache. I sent the camera back for repair a total of 7 times, and they didn't fix the problem. I finally requested a replacement, and I received a referbished body that had the same issue. I refused that camera, and received a brand new in box E-M5 that also had the same issue.

After spending over $2500 on lenses, and accessories, I ended up giving up on Olympus altogether, and selling all but one lens. I cracked open the body, and repaired the flaw myself by soldering copper plated springs to the bottom of the battery contacts so they wouldn't collapse again. So far the fix has worked for over a year, and I keep it as a camera for street photography. I've gone back to Nikon for my professional work.

 

[yRaz]

After spending over $2500 on lenses, and accessories, I ended up giving up on Olympus altogether, and selling all but one lens. I cracked open the body, and repaired the flaw myself by soldering copper plated springs to the bottom of the battery contacts so they wouldn't collapse again. So far the fix has worked for over a year, and I keep it as a camera for street photography. I've gone back to Nikon for my professional work.

I've had a sony A6000 for close to two years now and the only thing I have to complain about it is that the body is too small for my hands. My dad had a bunch of really nice legacy glass left over from his Konica SLR and I am able to use all that on my A6000 with a $20 adapter. I've recently discovered that there are some "smart adapters" that allow you to use cannon lenses natively with sony's E-mount system.

 

[Wendig0]

I've had a sony A6000 for close to two years now and the only thing I have to complain about it is that the body is too small for my hands. My dad had a bunch of really nice legacy glass left over from his Konica SLR and I am able to use all that on my A6000 with a $20 adapter. I've recently discovered that there are some "smart adapters" that allow you to use cannon lenses natively with sony's E-mount system.

The OM-D E-M5 is really small for my hands as well. I had to buy another grip to make it more comfortable to hold. One reason I went back with Nikon, was that I already had all the lenses from my previous Nikon. I'm glad I didn't sell them when my previous Nikon died after 7 years of daily use. I have a Nikon adapter for my Olympus as well, but no smart adapters. It just makes the Nikon AF lenses into manual focus lenses, but the pictures still come out great.

 

[yRaz]

The OM-D E-M5 is really small for my hands as well. I had to buy another grip to make it more comfortable to hold. One reason I went back with Nikon, was that I already had all the lenses from my previous Nikon. I'm glad I didn't sell them when my previous Nikon died after 7 years of daily use. I have a Nikon adapter for my Olympus as well, but no smart adapters. It just makes the Nikon AF lenses into manual focus lenses, but the pictures still come out great.

I really haven't missed AF at all. Most of what I do are stills, portraits and video. My legacy lenses take far better pictures than my kit lenses and I got 7 of them for essentially $20. I've been looking at the cannon smart adapter because I think my first big lens investment will be a 400mm and those simply don't exist on E-mount.

After doing a bit of reading I've found they're finally making Nikon smartadapters for E-mount, but they're much more expensive than cannons. I thought it was an interesting read, you will probably get more out of it than I did since you shoot Nikon.
http://briansmith.com/where-are-the-nikon-af-lens-adapters/

 

[Wendig0]

One of my favorite legacy MF lenses that I take with me everywhere is the Nikon Nikkor 20mm AI-S f/2.8. The glass quality is absolutely amazing, especially since I picked it up at a pawn shop for $80, from an employee that didn't know what they had. They were selling it with a camera body as part of a package, and I asked them to break the package up for me. It takes some of the best night photos of any lens I have.

Thanks for the article! While I don't shoot with a Sony body, I am really interested in what Sony has to offer right now. Perhaps one day I'll get one.

 

[yRaz]

One of my favorite legacy MF lenses that I take with me everywhere is the Nikon Nikkor 20mm AI-S f/2.8. The glass quality is absolutely amazing, especially since I picked it up at a pawn shop for $80, from an employee that didn't know what they had. They were selling it with a camera body as part of a package, and I asked them to break the package up for me. It takes some of the best night photos of any lens I have.

Thanks for the article! While I don't shoot with a Sony body, I am really interested in what Sony has to offer right now. Perhaps one day I'll get one.

Sony's lens selection is a bit of a boon right now. They're overpriced and don't offer very much unless you want to shell out some serious cash. My current go-to lens is a Pentax-M 50mm f1.4 prime, it gets some great pictures in low light and in most situations I'm able to shoot at ISO 200-400 at night. It doesn't have any of the fancy coatings that new lenses have but I've found that the lack of coatings gives my photos a lot of character. It's just a matter of working with the lens instead of against it.

I'm really starting to notice the limits of my APS-C crop which turns my 50mm into a ~70mm. I'd like to upgrade to a full-frame at somepoint but that's more of a want than a need. I'm not a professional so I have a hard time justifying the investment so I'll probably stick with my a6000 for a few more years. I don't really care about the all the new features on cameras as I'm still shooting Manual focus. 5axis image stabilization would be nice but I just keep the f-stop low and shutter speed high.

 

[Kenrick]

At this price, just get the full frame a7rII and the master FE 24-70 mm F2.8 GM lens and your good to go. That pair was created for heaven. For budget great all around, get the a6000.

 

[yRaz]

At this price, just get the full frame a7rII and the master FE 24-70 mm F2.8 GM lens and your good to go. That pair was created for heaven. For budget great all around, get the a6000.

I got some good legacy glass and an adapter on my a6000 and I have to say shooting in manual only mode has, I feel, made me a better photographer. Its gotten to the point that I cant justify the cost lenses with autofocus. All the "cheap" ones don't take pictures as nice as my legacy glass unless I feel like spending upwards of $500. Only downfall to Sony's e-mount is the lack of affordable quality glass. Luckily, smart adapters have brought cannon glass, and now Nikon, to the table.

 

[Technosense]

My GH4, with speedbooster and Sigma glass has blown away Canon is resolution but also competes in low light with any full frame. Going manual has it's drawbacks, but also does make you a better shooter in most situations, but does have it's limitations. For the money and results, I'm still waiting on something better...this ain't it.

 

[mbrowne5061]

They want $2000 for a 4/3 crop sensor? If you want on the mirrorless bandwagon get a full frame sony A7R for the same price.

Or if you want on the mirrorless bandwagon, just get a Sony. Full stop. Mirrorless cameras are the last area where Sony truly dominates, but really only because Nikon, Canon, and Olympus for whatever reason can't get their act together in terms of performance for the price.

 

[yRaz]

Or if you want on the mirrorless bandwagon, just get a Sony. Full stop. Mirrorless cameras are the last area where Sony truly dominates, but really only because Nikon, Canon, and Olympus for whatever reason can't get their act together in terms of performance for the price.

I think that's mostly because the other manufacturers didn't take mirrorless camera's seriously.