Olympus 16.1MP E-M5 Rugged Mirrorless Review by TheVerge With Rating 8.4/10

On February 7 2012, Olympus announced the Olympus OM-D (OM Digital) Series of Micro Four Thirds camera. The dust- and splashproof metal-bodied Olympus OM-D (also called the Olympus E-M5) is a retro styled 16.1 Megapixels compact camera featuring a body-integral 5-axis image stabilizer to compensate for multi-directional camera shake during both still photography and HD moviemaking, 1.44-million-dot 120 fps refresh rate EVF and auto focus with 3D subject tracking at up to 9 fps sequential shooting. It also comes with a tilting 3.0-inch touch screen OLED and new Movie Effects: One Shot Echo, for a semi-transparent frame at your whim and Multi Echo, for a multi-motion trail effect.

In sequential shooting mode, the camera is capable of capturing up to 9 frames per second (4.2fps with AF, when fitted with the M.Zuiko DIGITAL ED 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 lens). The OM-D has an eye proximity sensor that allows automatic switching between the EVF and the articulated OLED touchscreen. The camera is capable of recording Full HD videos and can store them in either AVI or MOV format with M.JPEG or MPEG-4 encoding. Along with the OM-D camera, Olympus also announced a number of new accessories including the dust- and splashproof MMF-3 four thirds mount adapter, the HLD-6 power battery holder grip and the FL-600R flash with a guide number of 36 (in metres at ISO 100/21°), improved recharge time as well as a wireless control option. The Olympus E-M5 will be available in April and ships in body-only (black and silver) for $999.99, or $1,299.99 with black M.ZUIKO Digital ED 12-50 mm f3.5-6.3 EZ lens, or $1,099.99 with black M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-42 mm f3.5-5.6 II R lens. Here's the summary of review by TheVerge, giving the camera a rating of 8.4 out of 10:

"Typically the worrisome feature of a Micro Four Thirds camera, or any camera with a sensor smaller than a DSLR's, is low light performance -- smaller sensor means less light collected at a time, which usually means worse images. No such trouble here, though: the E-M5 can't quite see in the dark, but it does an impressive job of trying. Its ISO range goes as high as ISO 25,600, and I happily shot up to ISO 3200 without even thinking about it. You get a bit of noise after about ISO 800, but even up to ISO 4000 or so photos are still usable at smaller sizes. Even at ISO 12,800 and to a lesser extent 25,600, I could still read text, and unlike most cameras wouldn't hate sharing the resulting photos. Such great ISO performance makes it all the more frustrating that by default the E-M5's Auto ISO setting only goes up to ISO 1600, and like the NEX-7 the camera instead abuses shutter speed to get good pictures in low light -- you can change this in the camera's menu, and I suggest you at least double it to ISO 3200. Fortunately, slow shutter speeds aren't as big a problem as they normally are because Olympus' Micro Four Thirds shooters use in-camera image stabilization rather than relying on the lens to keep your shot still, which makes a noticeable difference in the sharpness of your photos. I normally try to avoid shooting at less than 1/80th of a second shutter speed, but I went to 1/40th or below on the E-M5 without any problems. It's five-axis stabilization, too, which means it'll correct for almost any direction you or the camera moves. High-definition video can be recorded at either 1080p or 720p, at 30 frames per second. Footage is impressive, too, with rich colors and crisp details. The E-M5 offers continuous autofocus while recording video, and you can zoom as well -- the zooming's a bit jerky, though, and video would occasionally flicker as I zoomed in or out. In-camera image stabilization is once again a big plus here, allowing for much smoother video even while you're moving or panning the camera. You'll still want a tripod for shake-free results, but video from the E-M5 is far from the nausea-inducing footage a lot of cameras produce. The stereo microphone does nicely as well, and picks up a pretty good stereo effect. It's not a replacement for an external mic, and that's unfortunate since there's no input for a microphone (though you can buy one to attach to the hotshoe).

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 does nearly everything right: it's fast, gorgeous, and takes great images and video. Its biggest setback is its price: at $1,099.99, you're definitely paying a premium for the E-M5's gestalt, even over Olympus's own PEN line of very good Micro Four Thirds cameras. At that price this camera is competing with shooters that have larger sensors, too, and if there's one rule of thumb worth following it's that larger sensors mean better pictures. At this level, though, we're only talking varying levels of greatness -- the E-M5 is the best and most enjoyable Micro Four Thirds camera I've used yet. It's a much more novice-friendly camera than a DSLR or even the NEX-7 thanks to its size and control scheme, though NEX cameras and DSLRs will serve you more capably once you've gotten used to them. It also plugs into a large and ever-growing ecosystem of lenses, which is another advantage over Sony's NEX cameras. If you're willing to make a couple of very minor tradeoffs in image quality and manual control, most buyers will be very happy with the OM-D E-M5."