Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II - Extended second impressions review from Spain 

Thank you James, really appreciate your kind comment.

An adobe plan would be a nice idea! ;)

The original E-M1 is still an excellent camera ;)

The G85 is excellent, hard to ask more from that one and the price is definitely more attractive :)

I don't think so and I couldn't find any info in the manual.

My guess is that there will be almost no differences, just like when we compared the E-M1 to GX8 and the GX8 to the Pen F. But let's wait and see :)

The upcoming GH5 will be very interested, although the price could be quite similar.

There is the Picture Mode, which is what I used to record the Cinema 4K footage. It's not a real log though but it gives more DR, something similar to the Panasonic Cine-Like profile.

If you don't need the upgraded AF performance or crazy continuous shooting speeds, the E-M5 II is an excellent way to start.

One of the things that I want to know more about the new E-M1 II is how much the new 20mp sensor is better with respect of dynamic range and lower noise levels. I get the impression from your review that the new sensor does not make that much of a difference.

For now it looks similar to the other recent m4/3 cameras. That being said, I need to test the camera more to really see where the improvements are and if there are any. I will also perform some comparisons.

I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work well. I tested the lenses on the original E-M1 and it was fast and reliable.

+techenniz: Brain Wadie and others have posted images and comments on the Olympus E-M1II public group on Face Book, relating to the mark II and the PanaLeica 100 - 400mm f4/6.3. From what I have seen it appears to be working fine. Apparently, though, it is better to set the distance limiter on the camera and not on the lens.

If I can get my hands on EOS M5, I will review it for sure ;)

Thanks Mathieu! Appreciated. #Subbed ;)

Yes for peaking, I don't think so for zebra.

Didn't have any issue but I probably didn't record enough in 4K to double check that.

Not sure if I'll get the chance to have a GX8 at the same time but I'll try.

I find using the rear touch screen often inaccurate and my nose always touches it and change the AF point's position as a result. However I agree that using the twin dials is a nice alternative once you get used to it.

I got decent wildlife shots with the old E-M1. You can see some of them in my Olympus 300mm Pro review.

E-M1 II has better dynamic range (especially in the highlights), high ISO is similar. Colours are excellent on the three cameras.

Thanks for the reply.

The X-T2 EVF is still the best in my opinion. As for the autofocus, I think they are close but the Fuji is faster with video.

Amazing thank you very much :)

The A7 II is definitely the most tempting at that price right now! You can also find an X-T20 or a Panasonic G85 under $1000 which are very good cameras.

I know an E-M1 (mark I) user that is working with the speedbooster with excellent results. But I'll try to test that on the E-M1 II.

Thank you for the reply and i will keep this info in mind :) Cheers Dude

It really depends on how stable you are but I would say 50-60%, if you are stable enough maybe even 70-80%.

in the works already ;)

Excellent!!! Thank you Mathieu.

And with a6500 if it's possible! Now I'm really deciding what camera I need more for 4k video: Olympus or Sony.

Let's hope for some slight price drop in a few months, or maybe some deal second hand.

Yes there is a lot of competition. It really comes down to specific needs.

I haven't compared the two cameras side by side but I think the results will be similar. Not sure what kind of pictures you take in the forest but you can use a slow shutter speed and take advantage of the stabilisation. As for color noise, some softwares allows you to reduce color noise separately so they get rid of colored dots and replace it with fine grain instead.

Thank You a lot for answer :)

Yes you can.

My guess is that f/2 zooms would have been larger and more expensive and nobody would have bought them. But then you think about Sigma and you just wonder where the truth really lies. Their 50-150mm 1.8 is quite large and heavy, but the 18-35mm is more than reasonable (but it has a shorter zoom range as well).

Yes with the All-Target mode. I tried it with one of the bulls run and seems to work well. I want to test it for birds in flight as it could be more useful than the 5-areas mode.

Yes that was my idea, should be more useful. I tried with for a couple of minutes, but just to test how is following the subject, need to try with some real fast moving subjects.

Agreed!

How often are you shooting wildlife? Static subjects or BIF? The E-M1 II will definitely make a difference with moving subjects especially in difficult conditions (cloudy, subject being far and moving really fast). Panasonic's DfD AF system can struggle with birds in flight and other similarly fast subjects. However if you are talking about birds on a tree or more static animals, then the G85 can do well. For macro they are both excellent and you have a good choice of lenses (I love the 60mm Oly).

for wildlife its mainly statics and sometimes flying birds. but my main concern in flying bees,butterflies,... so i dont know if G85 can capture such speed. also i want to know how different the M43 are compare to FF in macro? i had a7s with 90mm macro which was amazing camera until it was droped into lake :D i love the touchscrean on these cams and how the 60mm is equivalant to 120mm so thats a great bunos for macro. great thanx

+pete draper that's excellent news. I'm currently testing the camera in-depth and took some BIF shots too. It definitely locks faster than the E-M1 and the tracking is more accurate. However if the bird gets closer the camera can struggle. I had a good amount of out of focus shots. Which settings are you using? I find C-AF Lock at +2 to work better.

+ Mathieu Gasquet: Mathieu, I was unable to test it out as thoroughly as I would have liked, but I did notice two minor issues. I found the camera did struggle to lock focus on birds which suddenly appeared in front of me at close range, but my D500 sometimes struggles in such instances as well. The other slight issue was that I found the EVF lagged slightly when tracking a BIF flying quickly and horizontally from left to right and vice versa. I initally used C-AF TR then switched to C-AF. When I processed the RAW files in LR6.8 I could see no difference. When I was using C-AF TR I did think that it appeared better than the C-AF TR on my D500. I am still setting my camera up at the moment (Christmas stuff keeps getting in the way) and will definatley try the +2 setting. But straight out of the box it is still very impressive. I look forward to your in depth review.

Pete, question if I may about your EM1 and the 300 f4 Pro. How does it focus with 4k video... is it as quick as making stills or are there features turned off in 4k mode? Is the combo able to quickly focus on a subject with cloudy daylight or will it hunt for a while before the subject (distance mostly) is in focus? Is is able to track a relative fast moving animal running towards you?

Hi Bert, I'm terribly sorry but I have not used video as yet. Christmas and poor weather keep getting in the way. I can, however, tell you that other users have posted some excellent footage using the 300mm f4 with notes. Are you aware of the Olympus E-M1II public group on Face Book? You should be able to find answers there. One guy has uploaded a video of an otter eating a fish. He used a mark II + 300mm f4 PRO + 1.4 TC + 2 x digital extender - hand held.

I wasn't aware... thanks! ;-)

+Marios P I don't know when I'll have the chance to try some 4/3 lenses but I am sure more feedback from other users will come out now that the camera is being shipped.

Iridient Developer mostly but it' doesn't support the E-M1 II ORF files officially yet. I also used Olympus Viewer for a few shots.

Ok thank you so much

Via HDMI output? I am not sure but I'll try to find out, so far Olympus hasn't been specific about the output compression.

Mathieu Gasquet No internally. You can check with a small program called MediaInfo. Open a file you recorded in that program and select "Text" under the View button. You will now see all the codec information, including the color depth and chroma subsampling values. You would be the first to really confirm this information if it's true!

4:2:0 8-bit. P.S.: cool app, I didn't know about it!

Ahh ok, thanks for checking! I guess 4:2:2 is only possible over HDMI

That's 8-bit 4:2:0 over HDMI out?

Yes it should be 40-150mm. ,) Can't be changed as it is a text embedded in the video itself.

Hi Marcel, since the RAW files are not compatible with all the softwares yet, I can't give a final comment about low light performance. For now I don't see a relevant difference in comparison to the other 20MP micro four thirds camera.

Mathieu Gasquet Thank you very much for this statement. We'll see later on what the experiences will tell us. (For example i have also a Fuji X100T and the low light performance is really great! Also still estonishing good at 12800 ISO. I just testet it again.) I am really looking forward to read a test in low light conditions of this camera. For now i am a little desapointed of the higher ISO performance (4000 or higher) with the M10 Mark ll. There is only a small playground to use...and the pictures get matchy. Fortunately there is an advantage because of the very good stabilisation system beeing able to go down very low with the shutter speed, especially for not moving objects. An important theme so that not should be put on te side especially now for the Em-1 Mark ll now which should be found in the Pro Category. (f.ex.Concerts or shooting animals, birds or whatever in the late afternoon, when the light is not so helpful anymore.) It's not only "all about speed" to play in the upper league. So i am looking forward for a following test...hopefully from you. :)) Thank you very much again. Kind regards Marcel

Yes it should be 4:2:2 8-bit

Which Sony camera exactly?

Mathieu Gasquet a7rii and a7s ii

Do you use a battery pack? My batteries don't last too much even without stressing the camera too much.

I use a battery grip: 2 batteries at a time. battery life is passable. luckily changing them only costs me about 15-20 seconds.

Perhaps prices will start to come down a little in a few months.

someone has to pay for r and d people make me laugh,canon or nikon bring this sort of technology out and charge $7,000 olympus have raised the bar significantly and i for one being a 4/3 fan from the start will now be investing my money in micro 4/3 mirrorless..hooray i waited a long time for this!

The review was made after a press event where I had only one day to try the camera. I clearly state it at the beginning of the video that this video is NOT a complete review. I am currently preparing a full review where that particular information will be mentioned. I also gave you some assistance via Facebook already so I am not sure why you are coping and pasting the same comment on all my videos featuring the camera (including the 4K comparison with the X-T2 where Pro Capture isn't related). As for the bug with the 5m-infinity switch, did you talk with other users that have the same combo? Maybe it's a firmware for the lens that is needed.

Hello Mathieu. For me it is a lost fight. I already gave up and throw 2500$ to buy the Olympus 300mm F4 even that I own the Panasonic 100-400 lens. I am not willing to buy the best MFT sport camera and then stay with a crippled camera not supporting Pro Capture. I hate to throw 2500$ for something that there was no way I would buy if pro capture was supported also with Panasonic lens. Lackaly i have the finance capabilities to throw 2500$ away. Most people don't have this luctery. My goal is to raise the awareness to the lack of Pro Capture support by Olympus so that hopefully someone there will take a technical and not political decision and will fix it in next Olympus firmwares release. If the damm camera can take photos with Panasonic in single point focus, continuous focus, continuous tracking focus, then here is nnnoooo reason beside political and not technical to not support at all pro capture. Olympus don't have even till now a 100-400 lens to offer as an alternative. People like me and others decided to buy the Panasonic because there was no alternative. If bloggers like you and other will complain maybe finally someone in Olympus will listen.

Well as I told you the other day, I forwarded the limitation info to Olympus. But from what I understand, it may be a firmware update for the lens rather than the body. So in that case, the message should be forwarded to Panasonic as well.

Firmware update for the 100-400mm. It fixes the Af limiter issue: cs.olympus-imaging.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/#pana_ml

Ezra, read the DP review interview with Masamichi Handa where he clearly states that the compatibility is at the format level and not at individual company technical feature level - compatibility at that level would be considered that a bonus. It seems incredibly naive (some would call it dumb) that anyone would spend large amounts of cash without a clear purpose and the requisite due diligence. In the absence of this your relentless attempts to smear a company's reputation seems like cheap trolling. I bought a GH4 for the video capabilities ... should I run out and buy the expensive Olympus pro lenses made for the EM1 Mk II and complain about missing features? Clicking on your profile does not show a professional stills photographer but someone that leans towards video - and the amateur kind. Have you considered saving some money and buying a GoPro ?

The A7s II is definitely more video orientated. I could mention the A7r II (great stills and 4K quality) or several panasonic cameras. Here Olympus pushed the bar further higher with those crazy continuous shooting speeds and reduced rolling shutter.

Regular sync is 1/250s but you can go up to 1/8000s in Super FP Mode with compatible flash units.

There is a 3rd party brand that is supplying HSS for Olympus just recently.

I'm currently testing the camera in-depth and I am starting to get use to it. In the end it is similar to the previous one so if you know Olympus cameras already, it's an easier transition.

Pretty sure you can program the ISO button anywhere. On my em-5 mk 1 I have it programmed on the Rec button. But this camera has more buttons so you can also use one of the function buttons.

You can bind ISO to any FN button you want. But as you don't know, Olympus has best menu system and best user interface out there. But as you haven't used Olympus cameras, you don't know what you are missing. Olympus designed in E-P5 camera a 2x2 leveler. That is a leveler just under your thumb (in E-P5, E-M1) and now just next to your thumb. You flip it between positions 1. and 2. and that changes how the main dials operate (default). So at position 1. the front dial adjust aperture, rear dial adjust shutter speed (aperture is in front of the shutter in camera, so is in dials). Then you flip the leveler to 2. position and now the front dial adjusts White Balance and rear dial adjust ISO (white balance is about light source that is front of the camera, ISO is about sensor gain that is in body, so it is in dials order). So in fast situations when you need to adjust any of the exposure triangle (yes yes, shutter speed and aperture are what controls the amount of exposure) then you will use main dials that are under your fingertips all the time when having good grip, and then you flip a leveler to adjust ISO with the same dial. You can program the leveler to do something else like camera On/Off switch, a switch between MF and AF, or many other features, if you don't like the default shutterspeed + aperture ISO + white balance. And there is no reasons to want better image quality. Make a 30" hiqh quality prints (glossy photo paper) at ISO 6400 and compare it to exact same moment taken photo from FF or APS-C and you will not be able see a difference without spending time to compare specific areas by laying down the prints above each other and swapping between them. These real world image quality tests has been done for death, and there is no difference between 4/3" and FF in that ratio (30" @ ISO 6400). So if you are going to do smaller prints, crop for smaller print or use a lower ISO, you don't see a difference. If you use lower ISO than 6400 on all cameras, then you can increase the print size in the ratio. The body price is ultra cheap for what the camera system offers you. You get the quality, you get the performance and you get ultimately smaller size of the system and camera than with APS-C or FF and even for lower total price for the features. You can either keep going buying a body with just a kit lens, or you can buy a ILC system where you actually have more than just one lens.

That seems to counter everything I've read about the cam, though I have never used it personally, though the 6500 is something I thought about using for pro-sports and entertainment. Why do you think it's a "total failure?"

It is a bug and was fixed with the last update - so far as I know. Please update and test again!

Hehe, it's impressive, isn't it?

yeah it is..! superb..! :) and nice video btw. You guys are the best

Thanks!