Olympus OM-D E-M5 II Review

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 II – the successor of the Olympus OM-D E-M5, is a small 16MP camera made in Olympus’ compact range. Users of the OM-D E-M5 might think that they are still holding the same camera while holding the OM-D E-M5II.

This is because the most obvious upgrade by Olympus on the OM-D E-M5II is its more advanced movie capabilities and a multi-shot 40MP mode. For me the Olympus OM-D E-M5 II does not exactly feel like a big leap forward from the Olympus OM-D E-M5. So, if your E-M5 still works – keep it!

Nonetheless, Olympus has done all it can to tweak the camera with refinements and polishes there. 

These are the Olympus E-M5 II’s key features:

• 1080/60p shooting and 1080/30p at up to 77Mbps
• Improved 5-axis image stabilization in both stills and movie modes
• 10fps continuous shooting, 5fps with AF
• 16MP Four Thirds CMOS sensor
• 40 MP multi-exposure mode
• 1/8000th sec maximum shutter speed (1/16000th with electronic shutter)
• Built-in Wi-Fi
• Clip-on rotating, bounceable flash

	Olympus OM-D  E-M5	Olympus OM-D E-M5 II
Pixel count	16MP	16MP
Image stabilization	5-axis	5-axis
Stabilization (CIPA)	4 Stops	5 Stops
Max shutter speed	1/4000	1/8000 (1/16000 electronic)
On-sensor PDAF	No	No
Continuous shooting (without /with AF)	9fps / 3.5fps	10fps / 5fps
Flash	Clip-on Fixed direction	Clip-on Tilt/bounce/rotate
Viewfinder	1.44m dot LCD 1.15x mag	2.36m dot LCD 1.48x mag
Max video res/rate	1080/30p	1080/60p
Max bitrate	17Mbps	77Mbps
Mic socket	No	Yes
Rear screen	Tilt 3.0" OLED touchscreen 0.61m dots	Fully-articulated 3.0" touchscreen 1.04m dots
Wi-Fi	No	Yes
Accessory Port?	Yes	No
Environmental sealing?	Yes	Yes
Battery life (CIPA)	360	310
Weight	425g	469g
Dimensions	121 x 90 x 42mm	124 x 85 x 45mm

I will draw attention to the 40MP multi-shot mode. This feature uses the Olympus OM-D E-M5 II’s sensor-shift system to move the sensor to eight fractionally different positions and create a high-resolution composite image from these eight exposures.

Olympus has also greatly enhanced the E-M5 II’s movie recording capabilities by adding a 1080/60p shooting and an All-I, 77Mbps compression option for 30p capture.

Other movie recording features include focus peaking, uncompressed HDMI output, a mic input socket and timecode, amongst others.

The E-M5 II camera’s defaults uses an excellent Super Control Panel user interface. Olympus has also shifted from 'modal' display modes and now allows users to combine a histogram, level guide and highlight and shadow warnings in any combination.

Still, these changes to the camera, including the higher resolution viewfinder and screen, limit battery life - the E-M5 II is rated at 310 shots per charge, down from 360 shots for the original E-M5 camera.

However, in 'Quick Sleep' mode, which involves the camera turning off the screen as soon as you take your eye off it, this increases to 750 shots per charge.