Is the Olympus OMD EM1 Mark ii worth buying in 2024? 

I bought my Mark 2 used 6 weeks ago for £340. I've alway shot Canon (700d, 7d2, M5) and still have them - just don't use them now. Reason for that is my collection of 24 x vintage, fully manual lenses. The IBIS on the E-M1 II can be set to the precise focal length of each of those manual lenses. To get IBIS on Canon I would need to spend £1000+ - not gonna happen. I always shoot on ISO 200 as that gives 13 stops of dynamic range. Battery life is excellent, I've had 718 shots in one session with 28% remaining.

It's still an awesome camera in 2024. I bought mine used with less than 300 actuations in october 2020 and have been using it since then as my main camera with several Oly mous and Panasonic/Leica lenses. So far I have probably used about 40% of the stills features, so a lot still remains to be discovered. I like hiking and walking and the weight, size, build quality, weather sealing and IBIS make this camera an ideal companion for these activities.

I have had my e-m1 ii since 2018. It has been my work horse. I bought a OM-1 in 2023 but sold it because I found it really was not a big leap forward and my familiarity with my beloved e-m1 ii drew me back to it. The raw file sizes are also excellent. I also have the battery grip on permanently. Can’t live without it. Like you I only have a few lenses (3). 12-40mm, 17mm and the superb 40-150mm f2.8. Cheers and keep the good work up.

Love my Olympus cameras. The best combination of quality, ergonomics, color and selection of lenses!

Best m43 camera ever. I still use mine on a regular basis. I bought the OM-1 but it's been an unreliable disappointment. The computational features need a lot of work. And OMD has issued about six FW updates to get it right but the AF is still generating complaints. Long live our EM1.2 and EM1.3!

Bloody cracking camera. Got mine in 2020 and it still offers options I haven't used. Then add in the superb lenses...... Couldn't be happier

Love my E-M1 MII! Been using it since 2019 and it looks and works like new. I have taken 10,000 photos or more with it. Got it with the 12-100mm f4 Pro. I also have the 100-400mm lens, and between the 2 don't really need anything else. I sometimes use older manual lenses with it just for fun as well.

Great review. I have an original EM-5, an EM-10 Mark IV, and recently the EM-1 Mark III. The EM-1 is in a different league, it just feels perfect in hand and has such a very solid feel. I combined with the 12-40 MM 2.8 Pro, and I'm getting amazing results in my small home studio, and I don't need or want more mega pixels. I now use my older Olympus cameras for travel and street photography, but for the serious stuff it's always the EM-1!

I bought a brand new one for £650 about two years and six months ago. A bargain for a superb camera. I’ve just sold a Lumix G6, ten years old and a 2015 G7 for a used Lumix G9 which is equivalent to the E-M1 Mk2. Have packed the old cameras today and they are still like new in every way. Will miss the G6 in particular as was my first true mirrorless system camera and has been with me during work for years. A great camera and good value for any young enthusiast starting today. An ideal affordable Christmas or birthday gift. I love both brands and they have their own unique features that complement each other while sharing my small lens collection. For small cameras I have an E-M10 Mk2 and GX80. All amazing cameras that are fully featured. The smaller cameras have tilt screens rather than the fully articulated of the more ‘professional’ models. All these newer cameras have effective in-body stabilisation, which was one of the reasons for selling the G6 and G7 which don’t. My E-M1 has a Lumix 14-140 lens on it today as well as the genuine battery grip and second battery that was also bought used and is indistinguishable from new.

Update. I was watching this video again. It is that good. One thing that needs some amplification about the Olympus OMD1 Mii is the IBIS. Olympus developed this feature and is the best in the business. The 1 II has five stops of IS. There are newer bodies with more IS. I find that five stops is more than adequate for me. IBIS is critical for video. If your video is jumpy nobody will watch it. The IBIS on this is body is eerily effective for video. It is as good as a gimble. Some RU-vidrs claimed that for photography they can take exposures of up to two seconds. 2”! Who needs more? I love this feature and am more than satisfied with the quality of the OMD1 Mii I IBiS. I am very happy with is purchase and the 12-40mm pro lens you have reviewed. Mask On Nurse Marty (Ret)

Thank you! I am a big fan of Olympus (i have the omd em5 mark iii)!

You can customise the function lever so that one of the 4 choices is ISO which can be assigned to the front or rear dial.. You can have different functions allocated for M A S P and video modes if that helps. Check out page 26 of the manual to see how it works in Aperture Priority.

This was very helpful.

E-M-1 MkII I agree a good camera. I think a better way to access ISO is to assign the ISO to a button (say the fn1, top right on the back). To change the ISO press and hold the button, spin the front dial to the desired ISO and release button.

I just bought a used E-M1 mk II a little while ago, moving up from the GX80. I already have the Panasonic lenses from that system. 20MP is still a useful resolution. If you look at the Canon R6 mark ii, released in 2022, it is a full frame camera but is only 24MP. It's down to how you consume your photos and 20MP will print A4 no problem and is great on instagram and other social media even after a crop. I find that the Custom modes are handy if you switch between something like bird shots and street photography and you need to change a bunch of settings (such as autofocus settings) to get the best shots. I have tried out the High Res shot - making an exposure bracketed stack which turned out pretty good, but as I said above, the 20MP photos are good enough for most of my shots. One thing I found confusing if that it has HDR bracketing - with 2 options for auto HDR and several that you can blend together in post - these are taken with one press of the shutter. Then it has exposure bracketing which does a similar thing, with slightly different range settings but you either have to press the shutter for each shot or with to burst shooting. It took me a while to realise what was happening and why my shots were so inconsistent. Still not 100% sure of the reason for ISO Bracketing. The bracketed shots are only useful to blend for JPG shooters as all three shots come off the same exposure so the raw file has all that info in it any ways. I guess the one use that it could have is checking the dynamic range of a shot. If you take an exposure bracket you get the raw file to work with (3 times) but you can look at the over exposed shot to check that the blacks haven't been crushed and the under exposed shot to make sure that the highlights aren't blown out. If either has happened then you can switch for exposure bracketing or HDR modes. I haven't really bothered with this mode but if you've figured out a decent way to utilise it let me know. There's one major niggle with this camera. As I said I have Panasonic lenses, however the Pro Capture Low (continuous autofocus) only works with Olympus lenses. The Focus Stacking only works with a smaller range of M.Zuiko lenses (although I think focus bracketing works with any lens) - mainly the Pro lenses and the macro lenses. I nearly bricked my pants the first time I used the High speed burst mode. 60 fps is pretty fantastic. Even 18fps is great if you want continuous autofocus

great video

I have owned one for a few years. I purchased it because of size compared to my DSLRs but I bought a Z7 and it was game over for a 20 mp mft compared to a high-resolution camera which is about the same size. Yes, there's a difference in lens size but for primes and short tele mft can't keep up. To me and my usage it's night and day.

Wich lens do You recommend me for vlog or record myself

I'm a Fuji guy..I really like the Fujifilm system and the film simulations...I don't have the budget to buy a flagship and the only suitable option for me are the midrange cameras. But the Fuji midrange cameras have a precarious autofocus with a horrible hunting that does not make my work any easier, especially when taking portrait photos. I have had an Olympus em 10-mkII in the past that left a very good impression on me, which made me choose Olympus again (Olympus em1 mkIII) which has a clearly superior autofocus Fuji xs10..I found the Olympus em1 mkIII for 780 euros brand new wich I guess, it is a fair price for 2024...

I am a photographer and don’t like a fully articulated screen. All I need the screen to do is tilt up or down. A flippy screen is awkward and brings unwanted attention to me when doing street photography. I don’t do video very much. Apparently the camera puts the video in small files that have to be wed in post production. Sounds like a PIA. The battery truly is enough for a long day of shooting. I bring a backup battery but have never needed to change the battery. Yes, the colors are vibrant. I have looked at the images and was blown away by the colors. Not realistic but very enjoyable. Reality is overrated. Money is an issue for me. Found a bargain body and am very happy with this purchase. This is a very powerful body that can perform lots of tricks. I have no desire to own a full frame sensor body. M43 has the weight and size I want when carrying my camera all day. If there is a trade off, and I’m not convinced there is, In image quality I gladly make that choice for the benefits I derive from this format. Mask On Nurse Marty (Ret)

Worth for me.. In my country the price just $740.. Like new.. 😊

You didn,t mention Live Composite, a genious level fucntion, okay no starry AF or built in ND filter,s, but as you say a pro camera for circa £400.

If you want a full size, genuinely PRO, weather-sealed body, the second hand prices on immaculate OM-D E-M1ii are an absolute bargain. The superb grip is great for managing larger PRO lenses and it will do everything you want. It's cheaper than the marvellous little E-P7 pocket camera and cheaper than the slightly smaller but almost equally capable E-M5iii. A GENUINE bargain. 20MP is plenty, especially if you use something like the razor sharp 12-40mm PRO and frame your shots carefully in camera, to avoid cropping. Bear this in mind: 8.3MP is enough to completely fill a 4k screen, so unless you're doing MASSIVE prints, this camera is just about perfect.

I am looking to get a camera like that in case my Canon stops working.

Autofocus couldn’t hit the back door of a barn, unless you were trying to focus on a bird in front of the barn door.