Hands-On Review: The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III and 12-45mm f/4 PRO Lens

Building upon its legacy of compact, professional Micro Four Thirds cameras, Olympus now delivers an update to the E-M1 line with the announcement of the OM-D E-M1 Mark III Mirrorless Camera. With a new processor and loads of added features, this release should unlock even more possibilities for all types of photographers. Also released was a compact M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm f/4 PRO Lens, which will serve as a quality and lightweight general-purpose zoom for the system. After hitting the streets with E-M1 Mark III and the 12-45mm lens, it was easy to see they were agile, feature-rich units that helped create solid images in a range of conditions.

In general, when you're talking about Micro Four Thirds, portability inevitably enters the discussion—and the E-M1 Mark III delivers just that. The first thing you'll notice about the E-M1 Mark III over the previous Mark II is that it's still very compact and lightweight, with a well-balanced and ergonomic feel. Weighing 1.3 lb, the Mark III is about the same weight as its predecessor.

As for the 12-45mm f/4, which is a solid 24-90mm equivalent general purpose zoom lens, it's also very small and weighs less than 9 oz. When you consider the miniature size of the E-M1 Mark III body, along with impressive features such as a weather-sealed body, image stabilization up to 7 stops, 50MP handheld high-res mode, 60-frames-per-second continuous burst, and 4K video, and add it to the tiny-yet-versatile 12-45mm f/4 with its super-close focusing distance of 4.7", and 1:2 magnification ratio macro capabilities, you've truly got a ton of power in a small package.

Before we get into how the E-M1 Mark III performs in the field, let's get the obligatory nerd talk out of the way. Although the camera features the same 20.4 MP Live MOS sensor as its predecessor, it sports an all-new TruePic IX image processor. The TruePic IX brings exciting new features to the table, such as improved eye/face detection autofocus, Starry Sky AF, 50MP handheld hi-res mode and Live ND mode. The new processor also adds improved tripod hi-res mode, which delivers 80MP images in raw and JPEG, as opposed to the 50MP tripod hi-res images from the Mark II.

On my first trip out with the E-M1 Mark III, I decided to head to the High Line elevated park, on the west side of Manhattan. Eager to test some of the new features, I spotted a prime subject for a detail shot using the new handheld hi-res mode—a leaky drain at the bottom of one of the stairwells leading up to the park. The camera limits your smallest aperture to f/8 in hi-res mode, and was able to achieve surprisingly good results at various ISOs and shutter speeds. Even at f/8, 1/25-second at ISO 4000, I was able to capture a very sharp 50MP handheld image, with relatively minimal noise. The raw file responded very well to noise reduction and sharpening in post, leaving me with the impression that this powerful and convenient new feature would be something to which I could definitely get accustomed. I should note that there's about a 13-second processing delay that happens after you take a shot in this mode, which makes it less than ideal for shooting fast action, but it won't make much of a difference for inanimate objects, and the results are definitely worth the wait.

The next feature on my "must try" list was the Live ND (Neutral Density) mode, which is new in the E-M1 Mark III, but also found on the feature list of the flagship E-M1X. In any case, the feature was certainly new to me, and being a landscape/cityscape shooter who loves long exposure, I'm used to lugging around a real 100 x 100mm square ND filter set, a holder, and adapters every time I go out, so I was excited to try Live ND, to say the least. I decided to make DUMBO, Brooklyn, my next destination, to shoot some boats crossing under the Manhattan Bridge. But before I show you my results, what is Live ND mode exactly?

Olympus's Live ND is a clever mode that virtually extends the exposure time and allows the capture of images with a long exposure effect by merging multiple sequential images together. There are five ND filters to choose from between ND2, which cuts the light by 1 stop, and ND32, which cuts 5 stops.

This is a very cool feature not only because it will save you from carrying extra equipment and changing filters, but because the final long exposure image can be previewed live in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen before capturing. I certainly can't tell you how Olympus achieves this, but I certainly can tell you that it's useful and fun in practice.

Also, it's truly neutral, and doesn't leave any cast on the image whatsoever. While some real ND filters are more "neutral" than others, there are quite a few out there that will leave a slight blue or magenta cast on the image, which Live ND won't.

As evening fell, I figured it would be a good time to test the in-body image stabilization, which compensates up to 7 stops of shutter speed. I ended up finding a composition I liked, facing Jane's Carousel, a landmark in Brooklyn Bridge Park, and at this point I decided to replace the 12-45mm f/4 PRO with the much larger and heavier M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO Lens, just to up the ante a bit. At 29mm (58mm equivalent), 1/8 second exposure, I was able to capture sharp handheld images with a surprising degree of consistency.

Since I still had the E-M1 Mark III and M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm f/4 PRO in my possession for another day, I decided to go back out to try some of the other features. Since the E-M1 Mark III increases the image resolution, and it can produce in tripod hi-res mode to 80MP (up from 50MP in the Mark II), I thought this would be a good place to start. As promised, the EM-1 delivers a beautiful image in this mode, perfect for detail shots in architecture, product, or fine art.

Finally, I wanted to give the in-camera focus stacking a shot. Since the 12-45mm f/4 has such close focusing (12cm at 12mm), I thought it would be cool to shoot the Brooklyn Bridge through a tree, and try to get all of the close leaves in the shot in focus, as well as the bridge off in the distance. Although it was pretty windy (and cold, but that's beside the point), the E-M1 Mark III did a fairly good job doing the focus stack automatically. There were a few dodgy spots due to the moving leaves, but I was able to correct them pretty easily in Photoshop by blending-in a few of the focus bracketed images that the camera used for the auto-stacked image.

One thing I didn't have the time to test thoroughly was the 4K video capabilities. There aren't many surprises here, since it matches the specs of the top-tier E-M1X with up to DCI 4K at a true 24.00 fps. UHD is available up to 30p, as well. For the best post-production results, Olympus has packed in OM-Log, and the HDMI output can support 4:2:2 output for improved color fidelity. Improved audio is also possible via a 3.5mm mic input, and Olympus has helped users find a new solution by releasing an official KA335 Audio Cable and the SM2 Shockmount for the LS-P4 Recorder.

I found the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III and the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm f/4 PRO to be rugged, feature-rich, and versatile. There are a few features I didn't get to test, most importantly the Starry Sky AF, a new feature that, as the name suggests, promises improved autofocus accuracy when shooting the night sky. But, I definitely tried enough of the camera and the lens to say that Olympus fans are going to be impressed.

Olympus fans interested in another type of camera, perhaps something better suited for everyday shooting should check out John Harris's review of the other camera Olympus released today: the PEN E-PL10.

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