E-M1 Mark II Detailed Review - Disappointing for video shooters - EM1ii 

Best Alternatives on Amazon G85➡ geni.us/jEyA76A Fuji X-T2 (Amazon)➡ geni.us/mtKGyz A6300 (Amazon)➡ geni.us/bffB4nA 10% off unlimited yearly music licensing on Soundstripe (what I use for all my videos) use coupon code "Max" here: soundstripe.grsm.io/e/6lv If you enjoy our content please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $2 a month helps us make more and better content for you! www.patreon.com/MaxYuryev ↓↓↓↓↓Timestamps↓↓↓↓↓ 00:03:51 - Price 00:05:21 - Usability 00:12:16 - Video 00:16:36 - VIDEO IQ 00:18:31 - "Flat" Profile 00:20:54 - COLORS/DR 00:22:53 - Metering 00:24:04 - Dynamic Range 00:26:27 - Autofocus 00:27:34 - IBIS 00:28:33 - Audio 00:30:19 - Conclusion

Max. I really like your reviews, but not this one. This is really misleading and biassed. It may be disappointing for you, because you have not spent enough time on properly adjusting the camera, trying it with a good Olympus lens, proper updated firmware, compatible fast SD card. I have this camera since December and it creates amazing video if set properly with the optimized Olympus Pro lenses/primes. The video is more detailed and has better dynamic range compared to my Panasonic GX85. I never had any trouble with auto white balance with Olympus lenses, but do not use it too often anyway. E-M1 Mark II is absolutely amazing with 12-100 Pro lens for video. You can virtually run with the camera, walk down on stairs and get almost completely stable video. Try that with Panasonic or Sony, you will be hugely disappointed. I am easily getting 3-4x higher average bit rates what you mentioned in your review using a fast compatible SanDisk 280 MB/s SD card (note that compatibility issues were reported with various other cards). A few words about the "best alternatives' you praise for video. I returned my Sony A6300 within 2 weeks, it was overheating after 10-15 minutes almost every time at room temperature. Sony A6500 is not much better in this regard either. The battery barely lasts for 30mins video in Sony, in Olympus you can easily have 1.5-2 hours without overheating in 3-4 segments. The Sony continuous autofocus is indeed better than Olympus', but Olympus' is much better compared to GH4, G85 or GX85. A6300 has no articulated touch screen, the touch screen in A6500 really sucks and practically useless in bright light; all these are extremely disappointing for a video shooter. Fuji X-T2: no image stabilization, crippled 4K video function without the grip, no articulated touch screen. Again extremely disappointing for a video shooter. The battery life of XT2 for video sucks, several users reported batteries melting during prolonged 4k video recording. The autofocus of XT2 if set correctly is close to Sony's, which is good. Both Sony and XT2 has some obvious advantages in low light, but Olympus is not far behind. I think making a recommendations that video shooters should pass on E-M1ii and suggest them to buy alternatives (with purchase links), which are for some would be even more disappointing for video because of the overheating, absence of image stabilization, poor battery life, absence of articulated and/or touch screen, etc. is not fair and biassed. Your review would be much better if you would just describe your findings without making strong conclusions, based on potential limited experience with a particular camera system. I am sure that most of the autofocus, etc issues you mentioned soon will be significantly improved by Olympus firmware updates (and already much better than that of G85). And just remember what happened when G85 was first released with the stabilization glitch. I doubt that you would recommend it that time, but you are doing it now after the issue was easily fixed with an update. Keep up the good reviews coming!

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Misleading review because I own a Panasonic GH4 and my Olympus E-M1 Mark II shoots more detailed landscape 4K video (in Cinema 4K mode) than my GH4 does. And it has better hand held video image stabilization than the new GH5 does. And Olympus video has a rich, film-like organic look to it compared to unrealistic colors of GH4 video (e.g. the yellowish tinge the GH4 puts on green plant foliage). In sum, for the casual photographer who wants to be able to shoot highly stabilized and detailed video of sporting events, landscapes while on vacation, etc. with rich, real life looking colors, the EM-1 mark II is superior to any current Panasonic product. I only have one use for my GH4 now - slow motion shooting.

Great video. Please revisit this camera's video capabilities in 2020 in a short update to cover changes is af tracking, but more importantly clarifications on the advertised data rates. I notice some choppy movement in videos taken with this camera. Are these dropped frames? Is it due to the data rate or wrong encoding settings?

Did you test the AF with the Metabones adapter on this camera? I was wondering if the af improved and worked in video?

It's unfortunate that we have to defend critical reviews on RU-vid. I appreciate your hard work, and willingness to unearth the areas that most affiliates won't.

Hi. I mostly shoot videos but I only upload it on RU-vid and shoot 1080p. Would the em1 still be a huge difference vs Sony? Thank you

Hallo! Why did you use a Sigma lens (see link belox; Sigma 18-35mm F1,8 DC HSM (Filtergewinde 72mm) for Canon) and not from Olympus or Pana? Did it not had an bad effect for focusing?

Hey max. Very thoughtful video. Awesome ! Just wanna ask, how you work with multiple different camera brands. Let's say olympus, sony and canon ? Any tips to make those footages look similar in color tone ? Thanks

Have you tried the omd em1 mark 2 With firmware 3.2

Regarding the corrupted footage, could you elaborate on which card was used and in which card slot? I've had issues with slot 1 (UHS-II) while trying out the camera at my local store.

I love that you focus on video. Great review as always!

Max, you should be able to change the settings (ISO abd such) quietly by using the touch screen on the back. I own the the mark 10 2 and during video there is a pull out menu on the right and you can make your adjustments there. I assume, without looking, that the em1 mark 2 has that too.

Has anything changed (firmware) in the last few months since this review? I'm not a high end, pro video producer - and have been using the OMD EM1 for a while - and was planning a MKii upgrade. I COULD trade my existing body and lenses in and mvoe to the GH5, but financially it makes sense to go to the MKii.

glad you mentioned about card corruption because that happened to me too 4 weeks ago while trying to record the wedding ceremony of my niece inside the church. Both my sandisk 128 GB SDXC I on upper slot and Lexar SDXC II 150 mb/s on the lower slot got corrupted. Is there an explanation for this from Olympus? Is there a possible solution to retrieving my shots?

Hello Max, have there been any firmware updates to your knowledge that fix the problems you talked about?

Man I'm addicted to your channel. Thanks for such great content!

Has the AUTO ISO for video in Manual mode - has this been added in any firmware since this video was released. I wish the G85 had this.

Thanks for this good Video. Ist this white Balance Problem also exist at a EM5ii ?

Max, concerning the audio. I'm not sure you tested this properly. If you plug a mic directly into the camera, you probably need to send power to the mic to do it. This is a setting in the camera. Did you do this? I'm not getting getting the same issue that you had and when comparing it to the Sony A7r ii, it was at least as good. However, with no power to the mic, it'll be awful because the mic needs power!

The thing about the AUTO-ISO in M-mode is not true. When you like to use picture modes why you didn't use the "natural mode" with adding saturation and contrast in the quick menu on the screen - so post processing isn't for need? What's about the Auto-WB of the G85 @27:01 and following? The G85 looks a little bit cold and not so pleasent as the Olympus ;). Which lens do you used during filming with facedetaction? Maybe it's a positive quality aspect when you record more audio information with the RODE? But it's your opinion.

Wouldn't an attenuator cable diminish the hissing? Thank you.

did Olympus indicate somewhere that you need the new SD card if you want the high bitrates ? which SD card were you using?

Did you try with 12-100 Oly lens and current firmware?

many say EM1ii is a $1200 camera selling $2000. That's bullshit. It's mainly for still shooting. 15/60 fps burst mode. Two quad cores CPUs. Much more memory/buffer. Weather sealing and BEST IBIS. Contrast AF + PDAF. Dual SD card system in a small body. ALL THESE COST MONEY when build. The truth is, if you don't care burst mode, you don't need dual card, go for EM5ii which is far cheaper. Under $900.

Why would you want to use auto Iso in manual mode when u want to tweak manual as much as u want ??

I bought this camera primarily for it's video stabilization. It is so good that my gimbal and Canon cameras are now retired. On top of that, it is such a good stills camera and so enjoyable to use, that it is my primary camera for all uses now, stills and video. I generally record audio to an external recorder so the weak pre-amp on the E-M1ii doesn't bother me at all. It comes down to this - Is it a camera that suits your needs? In my case, yes!

It seems to really illustrate how far behind Cannon is with mirrorless. What do you guys think? Sorry for all the posts, it's one of those videos to comment as you go.

Thanks for your informative videos. I compared the audio of an EM-1 mk ii (w/3.4 firmware) against the same recording settings on an X100V (w/ 2.0 firmware) and couldn't find any difference in audio quality at all. Either Olympus fixed the problems you had with its firmware updates or you got a dud machine.

Love your reviews....very honest. Thank you

Hi Max, the new firmware 3.1 appears to make the video phase detect AF, a huge improvement.

YES!!! I've been waiting for this REVIEW!!! THX!!!

I have the OMD EM1 mkii and the video is stunning, much better than my old Canon 5Dmkiii, so I am surprised by the comments, maybe there are other cameras as you suggest that are slightly better, but I have to say that the picture quality is stunning at 4k, also the stability is incredible, it is like having a gimbal but hand held. Just wanted to say. I like your reviews they are very good, so not disagreeing with you, just say that I am very very happy with my mkii, and for stills, my God it is amazing ! :-)

I'm very glad that you mention and test the Rolling Shutter in your reviews Max. Keep doing that and maybe Sony will notice and improve their rolling shitter too. btw how many ms is the GH5? Has it been tested yet?

Max, what would you recommend for someone looking to upgrade to full frame camera for architecture/landscape photography? Thanks for your great work!

i think i have suggestion about your new topic. since type of people on youtube are filmmakers and vloggers ( run and gun ) please make a video about what's the best camera on the market are the best for those task and don't forget about canon. thank you !!

did you use a variable nd filter for all those winter shots? if so, which one do you recommend?

I was considering getting this camera until the Panasonic GH5 was announced and more info about it came out. Def glad I decided to wait for the Gh5. Good video btw

Hey Max, You can change the metering in a photo mode and it will be reflected in the video mode (I believe).

I need someone's help. I have the em1 Mark II and I'm having a issue I can't find any info on. I even called Olympus and they have terrible customer support. In 4K DCI mode the camera splits video clips every 2 min and 15 seconds. How do I stop this? I tried two different cards, so it's not that. The clips are around 700MB so it's not a size issue either. Thank you in advance.

Max, It seems nobody corrected you regarding the dials on the EM 1 Mark II used while shooting video (for ISO, EV's, shutter speed, Aperture). You can actually change all these setup directly from the screen as you can do on the OMD EM10 Mark II and the EM5 mark II by typing on the edge of the right side of the screen where is shown a tab. The tab opens and you can do all your changes quietly without using any dials. I hope it helps. Cheers.

Maybe my ears are shot, but I couldn't pick out the noise in the pre-amp you were trying to point out?

If I had the money to buy the omd e1 mark 2 then I could test it for myself because my omd e5 video is shit but it takes good photos I put all my video onto blu ray .

This was so helpful. Thanks so much. The mic issue / pre amp issue is hugely annoying and is exactly what I'm currently experiencing with the OMD em5 mkii :(

I do not have any problem of video making w/it. If you do KNOW how to edit with Light Works/Premiere/Vegas Pro, then you will know your comments/ideas so narrow.

Great, thorough review, Max. Well done.

Did you shoot Video in ALL-I?

Thank you for all the info!

Max, you have a beautiful family! If that footage was supposed to dissuade us from buying an E-M1 Mark II, it failed in that regard. Lovely footage. Max: Don't buy this camera for video. Also Max: Here's some beautiful video footage I shot with this camera.

10:40 ISO-Auto is available in Manual for Olympus camera. The ISO-Auto default is for P/S/A Only. You can turn it on. Check Menu-Custom Menu-E1 -ISO-auto - ALL

One of 4k bitrate samples looks out of focus and another is just a still image. Try to shoot for tests something like wide-angle panoramic city view or something detailed and moving like that. I have lots of footages with bitrate 120-150 mbps from my e-m1-ii as well as some "flat" stills with a few detailed objects where camera handles 4k by just 40 mbps.

Very informative, thank you

man if you are shooting c4k on the gh5 it's not 16:9 either, what's the point? if you want to shoot any cinematic formats, they're not 16:9 this is not an issue from olympus, It's called aspect ratio, people tend to look for the black bars I just look for the content

Appreciate your honesty.

Good review Max, Appreciated your intro, think you spelt out what the camera is, and what it isn't. Also thought you're hosting presence looked better lit, and you relaxed. Hope you don't mind if I "hold your feet to the fire" in a constructive manner. Cheers Harry.

Thank you. I had this camera on my shopping cart and ready to buy, but just because of the bitrate lie, I've decided against it. Marteen Heilbron also made notice of this bitrate issue on his review, so that's enough for me to keep looking for a high bitrate 1080p camera. And as far as the Panasonic G85, unfortunately the only way to obtain a great 1080p image is by shooting 4K at 100Mbps and downscaling. The G85 1080p bitrate is even lower than this camera, and very soft as well. I really appreciate your review.

9:51 - The microphone gain!!!! So helpful! I was looking to see if audio gain can be adjusted with a physical button! Thx!

Hey, great review ! Did you test the variable bit-rate with various subjects? Maybe you were getting less data from the building and the snow but that changes with more complex scenes?

Great review. The problem with the white balance can also be seen in the pictures taken without flash under fluorescent light.

Max you make the Olympus look pretty good in that opening video of your family. Thanks for doing such a thorough job on this review. You did provide information about this camera that I haven't heard before. It will truly help those looking at this camera for video.

I very much appreciate your thorough reviews and how you follow on with drilling down into the sources and solutions to the problems initially discovered. About the Olympus OMD-M1 II video problems you detected, I expect to see some firmware fixes. Here are some quick thoughts on some current problems. Sound Preamps - perhaps you know that the in-camera mic levels are only adjustable by the front dial. The external mic levels are only set by menu diving to the external mic sub-menu. On my M1 II, the audio is clean when the preamps are set low when using not Steinhauser and Shure shotgun mics. AUTO WHITE BALANCE & AUTOFOCUS - you probably know that Olympus m43 cameras "bake in" all kinds of color and lens distortion corrections into its RAW still image and probably it's video image algorithms. The new Olympus m43 cameras have lookup correction tables built in to their firmware for All of their m43 and 43 lenses. You video review appeared to be using a Panasonic 12-40mm f/2.8 lens an an $80 manual lens. You might want to repeat some of the tests using Olympus lenses with firmware updated for the M1 II. I note that your recent reviews with the GH5 discovered AF important differences with the old and new versions of the Panasonic 12-40mm as we all as other non-Panasonic lenses. Keep up the good work!

2:00 clip shows great AF... isnt that from EM1 mk II ?

I rarely give a like to videos but you just got one for your frankness and honesty. I wish there were more like yours. Oh, and I subscribed as well. :)

man you're the best on review !

realmente no entiendo este video... tengo una omd 1 m2 y los videos son impresionantes, tanto en colores calidos como fríos... y de la estabilización ni hablar es muy pero muy buena, mmmm no te patrocinara sony o canon...

I have two GH5’s and I use them on Multicam shoots. If use a GH5 for close-ups I struggle with the auto focus (normally I use an ENG camera for this (Panasonic HPX 270). I saw these rave reviews of the auto focus with the new firmware for the EM 2 Mk2. The price is now almost half of what it was when the camera came out. The compression is a bit concerning; however, I shoot with the Ninja V which allows me to overcome the recording limit and the compression problem.

Thanks for addressing white balance. Looking for a camera for underwater video and photography, and other reviews haven't touched on EM1 II WB.

tks a lot for this great review.

I have the Nikon D7100 and it also doesn't have Auto ISO in M mode. That coupled with a variable aperture kit lens and it drives me nuts!

thanks for this review Max, I am currently going crazy trying to find the perfect camera but somehow there is always something wrong with each one haha. The GH5 seemed promesing but the AF makes me think twice

really? ¿worse image quality? ¿worse Auto WB? ¿worse audio? I do not entirely agree, and even if it was so, i prefer not to lose BEST IBIS, BEST rolling shutter, BEST touch screen and info (histogram and levels) and BEST ergonomics... Sometimes the big difference is in capturing or not capturing the scene, and with the EM1mkII the qualities are more practical for video shooters than its defects...

Did you make a full review of the Panasonic G85 already ?

a lot to improve in firmware... I guess... specially AF in video... auto-iso... but you can customize all the buttons for video and control aperture, SS, so on the touch LCD... so you don't have to make noise using dials while shooting... can you show us an example of that horrible so called auto white balance? it has good battery life and IBIS so hope they improve codec and AF... personally that will solve lots of problems... thanks for the review. I hope Olympus watch this

Great detailed review. Sad that it's so expensive and doesn't have enough well implemented video features to make it a good purchase. The great video stabilization and rolling shutter performance is such a wasted benefit.

You can change all relevant settings from the touch screen without using the dials. So no noisy clicking. Just an fyi

Hello Max. You make realy good reviews. Thank you for this. But me and my friends waiting review and comparition of Panasonic GH5 vs Sony A6500 and Fuji X-T2

Great review! I'll consider it all!

Hi Max. I'd look at the manufacturer's page if I wanted to know the qualities of a camera. Since I know that the manufacturer omits the weaknesses of your product, I look at pages like yours that show important information for anyone planning to buy a camera. Greetings from Brazil.

Thx for the review. These are the things that concern YOU [and probably others-;) ], so keep going like that and always give YOUR opinion on product reviewed:)

Спасибо за видео. Передумал покупать е-м 1-2 :)))

excellent review!

Fair video. Hopefully Olympus can address some of the issues you point out via firmware upgrades as they have a good history of doing so. The bit rate deal is unacceptable. The IBIS is the one thing that makes this camera really good for someone like a 85/15 stills/video. Even still, the IBIS in the G85 is pretty dang good so it's a tough $2000 ask. But if stills and speed are your requirement, this is still a good option to consider.

I think it's more of what you're using this camera for, 50-50 for me. I went with this. I'm a portrait photographer. But I love going on adventures with my buddies. Snowboarding, four wheeling, mountain biking, and hiking. Don't like taking my canon 5d mark IV with me. It's big.. . Lenses are big. Not fun to be lugging around a mountain. Plus it was build for what I want to use it for. My Sony a7ii is slow. . tracking sucks balls haha not fun to use. Miss a lot of shoots. I'm pumped with this Olympus. Able to throw it up and blasting pictures out to get a ridiculous amount of focused images. Have it set up on format 1 for pictures and 2 for videos. No other company can do that. Which is amazing. Same with my sd slots. One for picture other for video. But for people to say this camera sucks are ridiculous. Their is no other camera in it price range that is as fast as this beast with fps. if you're wanting a action sports camera with with video that doesn't cost 6,000 bucks. I'd going with this. Didn't research the new gh5 yet. That could be good. Thanks for taking the time to review this :)

Great review Max. Many of the issues appear to be firmware related. Honest reviews could help Olympus improve their firmware and user experience (fingers crossed)

GH5 Review coming soon?

The introductory video excerpts look pretty good for a negative review...

You do realise it has a split button where you turn camera on where you can change ISO, also a pull out menu on the right of screen? I believe most people are buying this for photography and not video.

Max, I was seriously looking at the EM1mkii to compliment my GH4. I work in sports an entertainment, and in no way can my GH4 keep up with sports photography-- I understand the GH4 exceptionally well, so I can probably nail, I don't know, 70% of my concert photography. Usually. I might be generous. I started out with mainly doing video with this company, but I have slowly been providing more photography, too. I mean, as best I can with my GH4. From what I understand, the EM1mkii is probably the way I should go, but what do you think? My company is still wildly happy with my GH4's video, and before viewing your critical breakdown, I sort of thought that the em1mkii was somewhere in the wheelhouse of the GH4 in terms of video. I guess I'm wrong? Maybe firmware has changed something? I need to desperately up my photography game. I'm not sure the GH5 can shoot junk like soccer near as well as the Oly equivalent can. Questions, comments?

could have included the table of contents in the description as well ;)

This is a great camera especially now max tested the gh5 and that came out worse!

I appreciate your honesty. But here's why I can't just jump over to a G85 from my original OM-D E-M1: no DFD support for my Olympus glass, which includes the 40-150mm f2.8 PRO that set me back a pretty penny already. If you're shooting sports and wildlife, as I do, that's a dealbreaker. Even if the G85 or GH5 did have DFD support for Olympus glass, phase detect autofocus is superior for tracking moving subjects, and it works with Panasonic, Sigma, and Tamron Micro Four Thirds glass as well as Olympus. DFD only works with Panasonic glass, and it still hunts quite a bit in video. While the G85 and GH5 are superior video tools (and thankfully now have in-body image stabilization), they still have important drawbacks for still photography compared to the OM-D E-M1 Mark II. So if you're a 50/50 shooter, the Olympus might be good enough in video mode. Maybe the OM-D E-M5 Mark III will correct some of these issues, and maybe Olympus will fix some other things in firmware.

This is the best Olympus EM1 II review I've watched. Thank you for saving me a thousand bucks.

You know what's funny? The camera is not recommended for video shooters but you still managed to produce a gorgeous sample video. That just shows that manual video skills can compensate for most of the camera limitations..."Old School baby".

You didn't even mention the horrible amount of highlight aliasing at 25:54 And it actually looks a lot like Canon footage, low detail but lots of sharpening, lol.

I think the footage looks so nice

Max, your reviews are just wonderful, and I can always tell you've done your best to tell the truth in detail about the camera to the best of your ability. Thank you so much!

Is this a GH5 or an a6500? No, of course not. If you're doing more cinematic work (as in making a real film), those are more appropriate tools. BUT the E-M1 Mark II footage at the beginning looked pretty darn good to my eye, and if you're a 50/50 shooter, that's probably good enough for that kind of work. Hopefully, Olympus will address the data rate issue in firmware. Meanwhile, for photo work, Panasonic can trot out the G9 all they want, but that DFD system is just not as reliable as the PDAF system in this camera...and it won't work if you have glass from other Micro Four Thirds manufacturers like Olympus and Sigma.

Disclaimer: I have great respect for Max. I respectfully disagree with him on this. I think it's fine for 50/50. Would this be your first choice for video? No. But if you're like me and have lots of Olympus glass, the lack of DFD support for it by Panasonic makes this the best choice we have. Any differences we see between this and, say, my Panasonic G85 are on the margins at best. I have used them both, and they're both very capable for video with similar specs. The people at Olympus need to get their heads out of their asses about video and start leading (why not take a shot at dethroning the GH5?), and the people at Panasonic need to get their heads out of their asses about DFD for Olympus and Sigma glass. The G9 at least should have had phase-detect autofocus since it is more photography-oriented. I also wonder if Max tested the Cinema 4K mode on this camera against the others, which is much better than UHD. It would be DCI on the OM-D E-M1 Mark II vs UHD on the G85 and a6500, but you would be comparing each camera's best mode. Yes, Olympus should do better in UHD and 1080p than it does, but that can be forgiven if DCI 4K is good...and it's very good on the Olympus.

In contrast to the majority of other camera reviews, your videos are very informative. I agree with you about the fact that Olympus' approach to video is second thought. At least they don't have the expertise to keep with their competitors. In an interview, an representative confessed that they primary focus is in photo department. I have an E-M1 mkI and see that video is an afterthought. For a start, the video menu is totally segregated from the picture menus and presets. You just can't save a preset for video. Apparently the mkII is better in this aspect... The AF is simply unreliable for CF or video. I've seen your comparison with the A6500 and it's very sad that they didn't fix it yet. I'm an Olympus fan, but I agree with you 100%.