It’s confirmed! The Olympus E-M5 (from the new OM-D series) has been launched in Singapore in sync with the launch in Japan. The Micro Four Thirds mirrorless interchangeable lens (MIL) camera will be available in late March. Price TBC.
Retro-looking Olympus OM-D E-M5 launched today some 40 years after the original OM film SLR. Photo taken with PEN E-P3.
Most of the speculation prior to the actual launch turned out to be spot-on. The camera will be launched in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.
“The four-thirds traditional DSLR like the E-5 is not dead. Even now, the staff at Tokyo HQ are discussing what the successor to the E-5 should be like,” Toshiyuki Terada, Group Leader of Product and Marketing Planning Group.The launch will then be held in Amsterdam for the European countries next week.
The key question everybody is asking is whether the four-thirds DSLR, viz the E-5, E-30, E620 line of traditional DSLRs is dead.
Many in the industry that I’ve spoken to thinks so.
So I posed the question to Toshiyuki Terada, Group Leader of Product and Marketing Planning Group.
Toshiyuki Terada san, holding an E-M5 doused in water.
Terada-san said that the four-thirds DSLR are not dead.
According to him – even now, the Tokyo staff is discussing what the successor to the E-5 will be like.
E-5 is the flagship four-thirds traditional DSLR in Olympus’ four-thirds line.
Terada acknowledges that the higher end professional photographers will, for the moment, prefer the E-5 as the primary camera.
But the micro four-thirds mirrorless cameras are gaining very rapidly in popularity (especially with the younger generation) and capability.
The Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless interchangeable lens camera.
Looking at the OM-D E-M5, it does look like a “bridge” between the PEN E-P3 and the E-5.
Newly unveiled Olympus OM-D E-M5
Main improvements in plugging that gap is the increased auto-focus speed and the built-in electronic viewfinder, together with a host of other sweeteners.
Probably due to physics, it is still not possible for the OM-D to be a replacement for the E-5.
Only time will tell if the traditional DSLR will follow the way of the film cameras, or will the MIL cameras themselves be eventually replaced by higher performing prosumer compacts.
The camera will come with an M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-55mm f3.5-6.3 EZ kit lens.
In addition, two new micro four thirds lenses – ED 75mm f/1.8 and ED 60mm f/2.8 macro lenses – were also unveiled to be under development.
Two new Micro Four Thirds lenses under development - ED 75mm f/1.8 and ED 60mm f/2.8 macro lenses.
The design mock-up of these lenses will be exhibited at CP+ in Yokohama, Japan from 9-12 February, 2012.
Olympus OM-D E-M5 comes in black or silver but kit lens only comes in black.
Main specifications of the OM-D E-M5
- 16 megapixel Live MOS sensor
- TruePic VI image processing engine
- 5-axis (instead of 2) image stabilisation
- ISO range of 200 to 25,600
- 3-inch 610k-dot OLED-based touch-screen
- Built-in 1.44-megapixel electronic viewfinder.
- Fast auto-focus (20% faster than PEN E-P3)
- 3D tracking
- New “Key Line” Art Filter
- New “Cross Process II” & “Dramatic Tone II” Art Filter variations
- Dust/splash proof
- Echo special effect for video
- Burst shooting of 4.2-9.2fps
- Shutter speeds from 60 to 1/4000th second.
- 121mm x 89.6mm x 41.9mm (4.8 x 3.5 x 1.7 inches)
- 425 g with battery and memory card
- Hot-shoe for external flash
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