Olympus OM-D E-M1X review IN DEPTH 

Check prices on the EM1X at B&H: bhpho.to/2CK1VlU Buy Gordon a coffee: www.paypal.me/cameralabs 00:53 Sensor and stabilisation 02:37 Weather-proofing 03:51 Design, controls, EVF, screen, battery 12:34 Drive modes and Pro Capture 14:40 Autofocus, faces, cars, birds and bikes 18:46 Bracketing, keystone, high res shot, live ND 28:10 Custom menus 32:23 Wifi, Bluetooth, field sensors 33:15 Image quality, E-M1X vs Sony A9 35:32 Video including quality, stabilisation and vlogging 41:09 Verdict

An excellent review. You provide a refreshingly well balanced and thoughtful review, unlike some other of your RU-vid contemporaries. You've summed up the pros and cons well without the needless disparaging remarks that others seem to revel in.

Brilliant grown up review - thank you - how could anyone give this a thumbs down?

How nice to read a well informed and considered review of this camera. Not full of the recent knee jerk reactions and childish rants. Well done Gordon. A proper review.

Thank you Gordon for your inimitable thoroughness...time well spent. Cheers from British Columbia

Camera reviewers on RU-vid should learn from you Gordon, this is a great review! Only useful information, and not bashing the sensor size

Thank you Gordon, for this again very complete camera review. It is always a pleasure to watch your videos.

Gordon, I love that you don’t cut any corners with your reviews. You don’t fall victim of the quick cuts and text animations (like me.) I ordered this camera and can’t wait to review it on Kinotika. Thank you!

This might be the best camera review on RU-vid. I am amazed how quickly you mastered all the options and details of this camera in so short a time. The tension builds as one has to wait almost 40 minutes for your famous walk down the alley. You certainly showed off the super-IS of this camera. Can Olympus make a better introductory video? I doubt they can.

Brilliant in-depth look Gordon! Brilliant info!

As always well thought out, reasonable, open for critique, modest, calm, clear and to the point. The nicest and one of the best reviewers out there and of course this review does not disappoint. Great work Gordon, looking forward to your next reviews.On the cam: I use Em1.2 and it is mor ethan enough for me and I Always seem to feel compelled to tell everyone I truly dislike the menu's even after more than two years. But this one has the MyMenu of course making things a bit easier (and it might be on my Em1.2 too but now I use C1,C2 and C3 almost exclusively)...

Your book presented at the very end - brilliant! That confirms genuine passion in documentary photography.

EXTRA-ordinarily thorough review of this fab camera. You even reminded me of features I forgot to “exploit”. Thank you for your very detailed review. Your knowledge and insight are a treasure - always has been!!!

An excellent well balanced comprehensive review, thank you for this Gordon.

Excellent review. In an age where most internet reviews are intentionally biased and filled with exaggerations meant to incite or inflame, a review like this is wonderfully refreshing! Thank you so much.

Thanks Gordon, that was the best review I have seen in a long while. Well balanced and you explained many features. I think it is a bit of a niche camera but it does have its place. I am interested to see what Oly does next, maybe a new EM5 that will suit a wider audience?

This is the best and most unbiased review I have seen so far compared to some RU-vid primadonnas I have seen ranting and couldn't even give a quarter of the information you have given so far. I wasn't so sure about this camera but after your review, I can say it's a very good camera and the features cannot be matched by anyone, even my favorite brand Fuji.

By far the best review on the EM1X! great in depth review!

Coming from Nikon I just placed an order of Em1x/zuiko 300 f4 knowing fully that OMDS will never be the same as Olympus vision was, they were ahead of their time and really a bench mark in camera history, what puzzles me is why? why did they choke and did not continue with the vision they had and the innovation they pioneered light years ahead of the rest, I guess it is photo channels on RU-vid that brain washed people that you need FF to be a good photographer, and the crazy race to bigger megapixel count and bigger sensor so on so forth, I know I am running the risk by my decision ( Oly is a big shoe that OMDS will try to fill), but I am convinced I grabbed the last legend made by Oly that will be remembered for time to come, that will put a smile on my face each time I click the shutter and it is refreshing to see your video where you separate yourself from the rest by your shear objectivity and honest right to the point info.( My passion is bird/wildlife) And try to do the end of your video ( water bottle rinsing the legendary camera) to Sony/Nikon/Canon, etc….:)

The most thorough professional review I can find on RU-vid.

Great review Gordon, nothing left out. Keep up the good work!

Excellent detailed review. I Much appreciate the effort that went into it! Regards from Spain Gordon:-)

Excellent review and demonstration of a great camera. Very comprehensive and detailed. Thank you.

Most excellent review and demonstration 👍

Best reviews, I learn and enjoy them very much...thank you!

Awesome review! Made me fall in love with this camera 🙂

Thank you mr. Laing, yet another great review sir.

Best camera reviewer on youtube...no silly nonsense. Many thanks as I have this camera and your review helps.

OMG, I'm not even slightly interested in this camera and yet I still watched it from the begining to the end :D Love your videos!

Bought an E-M1 because of your no-nonsense review Gordon. Just subscribed to your channel because of this one.

Thank you so much for the detailed presentation.

Great in depth review. It was long but consisted of giving good information, and didn’t digress into a regurgitation of specs.

Genuinely shocked at the high ISO result compared to the A9. Considering its a heavy crop I was expecting the Olympus to fare much much worse!

Gordon, thanks for a very in depth, balanced and objective review. Your work shows a lot of photographic knowledge and skill -- which is in stark contrast to some of the other popular review sites. I look forward to seeing some reviews of this camera from some unbiased, pro level wildlife shooters. Even though I earn my bread and butter from corporate events and portraits, I love shooting nature, scenic, and wildlife subjects -- and this model holds a lot of promise.

Excellent delivery of great content.

Great camera and review! Thank you!

感谢UP, 这是对EM1X 非常好的评论，我一直用奥林巴斯无反相机，去年买了EM1X，非常好的相机， Thanks UP, this is a very good review of EM1X, I have been using an Olympus mirrorless camera, bought EM1X last year, very good camera,

Very well reviewed. Good job, Sir!

Thanks for your detailed reviews, they're very helpful. It seems to have dawned on Olympus that this was priced way too high, hence the recent huge drop. Makes it much more viable. Looks a great 'on the move' wild country camera

Thank you for a very informative review 🙏

Always the best, most informative and detailed reviews, pertinent to real photographers. Thanks again. I'll buy you another coffee, come payday. :-)

Cracking review Gordon: thanks a lot.

Gordon reviews are my favourite morning show!

The great camera! Thank you for the perfect review.

Gordon is the best. Hands down. Camera looks great. Thank you.

Hello Gordon, thank you for your great video. best regards

Thank you, fair and fantastic review. Not all colleges have respect for brands and their employees. Great camera. Not many people understand that the best system is the one you have with at the spot. After hours of work or way. Noise is no problem when shooting raw or printing. And yes you can not do everything with it. For this moments take full frame when can carry and pay. But be happy and enjoy life.

you have the best reviews

Great review, Gordon. I don’t miss Doug, I think you’re great on your own!

Thanks for a very thorough and unbiased review without preconceptions about the m43 system. All to often reviews appear to be more about the reviewer and their ego then the equipment. Cheers.

Thanks for the review!

THANKS GORDON. REALLY APPRECIATRE YOU REVIEW - HONEST REVIEW. I AM A EM1 MKII SHOOTER CONSIDERING THE PURCHASE OF THIS EM1X OR THE mkIII. As a bird shooter and seeing this review, I am going with this em1x - thank you for helping to make the decision.

Great review, Gordon and its great to see someone give this camera an enjoyable, detailed and most of all objective review, as opposed to the bashing its been getting from some other RU-vidrs. Although I must admit its a camera I'd never buy myself as its a bit on the heavy, pricey side lol. Anyway great stuff, Gordon, hope you and Doug Kaye do another video together sometime in the future as it would be great to see you two team up again.

Good review Gordon, I enjoyed watching that. It is good to see the features of the camera demonstrated and explained without any of the usual hysterical drama lamas that youtube is infested with.

I'm totally going to use it for vlogging.

Excellent review . Have no intention of buying it but you made it very interesting

This is the best review for this camera! Love it! Thank you so much! This camera has so many features. One of the best camera so far. Can't wait to see the how it will perform with the 150-400mm f4.5. Too bad it missing the top LCD and not an OLED view finder with higher resolution. Hopefully the AI will be upgraded for animals and bird watching. Thank you so much for this amazing in dept review!

My favorite Gordon Laing review to date. We had an argument years ago on dpreview when I was going through tough times and I want to apologize. I am not that person anymore. Cheers from Tennessee 😀

Great review! Would you recommend the EM 1X over the OM 1?

Thank you Gordon for the balanced and measured review of the Olympus OM-D E-M1X. So refreshing for a reviewer to see past the current Full Frame hysteria.

thanks for such a thorough review. I am looking to switch to Olympus after 40 years with Nikon. As I have grown older I find a need for a lighter camera with full features and the em1x seems to fit the bill. Thanks again for a great review. The fact that the camera generally goes for $1K less than the list in 2021 makes the choice much easier.

Great review. How is the addition of digital stabilization (plus the optical stabilization) when you do handheld video vlogging? Does it help?

Even though I have absolutely no intention to buy this camera, I watched this entire review because you're awesome at reviews! Also, it seems like a pretty decent bit of kit - an impression I didn't get from other reviewers.

I enjoyed this very much, as I do all of your presentations. Have a cup of coffee! :-)

this is a review with very useful information, great balanced RU-vid review [ without the drama ] thanks.

Refreshing to come here, get a great review and see a comment section that isn't full of toxicity, negativity and flaming about this semi-controversial camera.

Great review. For all the criticism from FF fanboys, this is a seriously capable camera and has far more features than Sony, Nikon and Canon can offer. I am not in the market for this camera, but I suspect many pros will be tempted to get one.

What camera did you use to film at 43:27 ? Great review by the way. The way they should be done.

Gordon Laing and Maarten Heilbron are best reviewers on RU-vid, so much underrated channels Always best reviews So many details :)

Thanks for a great review as always. There's lots of 'hate' on this camera....

I've not seen anyone else mention the IS customisations you highlighted here, this is absolutely insane. People just point out the wobble in the dpreview video, but if they'd see this I think the initial reception of the camera would've been quite different - EIGHT seconds, HANDHELD. Actually unbelievable. Really hope they pass whichever magic sauce is in this IS system down to the next iteration of the E-M1, because THAT is a feature I can actually get excited for. As for IQ for the price: since the well-beloved D3 and D3S are still great options in the modern day, I really think pixel peepers are doing themselves a disservice here. For maximum cropping flexibility and image fidelity, a Z7/S1R/A7R III will do - for a worksman (or hobbyist, be it few of them will probably buy this), there's a cutoff point where it doesn't really matter anymore, one that we've reached a long time ago. A D5 or 1DX II don't measure up for dynamic range to a D850 or A7R III either, and nobody throws a fit over that - because that's not what they're for. All these aspects, together with the increase in portability and cuts in price compared to its large bodied competition (D5, 1DX II), I really think this looks like a great camera. Just not a studio one.

This is the best review I've seen so far (and I have seen a lot). Thanks especially for the comparison of the ISO performance against the A9. Looks like the E-M1X is not that far behind, unless pushing it over 3200.

Excellent review as usual, Gordon. While many channels offer entertaining glimpses into a new product, I would say that your channel is the real thing in terms of serious real-world product evaluations. This look at the E-M1X seemed balanced, fair, and detailed enough to prove truly useful. I especially appreciated your comments which put the E-M1X in context against competing, or similar, products. Cheers. All of that said, I was never in the market for an E-M1X. My conundrum at present is how do I get more reach in my equipment arsenal? As an Olympus and Canon shooter, do I buy an EOS R with an adapter and take advantage of my existing, and excellent, Canon 400mm f/4, or do I buy the Olympus 300mm f/4 and utilize my existing, and excellent, E-M1? Either way, I'm out about 3K Canadian, so it comes down to the system. I stopped using the 400mm when I used a 7D, because the two together were just so heavy. Would the EOS R, lighten things up at all, or would I be just as well served with the M.Zuiko 300 and my existing E-M1? The other concern, is that I love using vintage glass, and own quite a few old lenses via adapters. They would just perform beautifully on a full frame sensor, whereas right now, I use them with mixed results on the E-M1. Anyway, I realize that this is off topic, but I'm wondering if you have any thoughts? I live way out in the wilds of northern Canada so trying either option in person is impossible.

Great review !~

Cracking review, fair play

Super review, thanks. I wonder how useful the focus bracketing is for landscapes.

Some say your reviews are too long, but since the information is so good...I'd say, not long enough! Thanks for the great info.

Thanks, a good in depth review! I am a little surprised at the new location of the menu button - its seems it would not be as convenient. How did you find it in practice compared to the em1 mk2 ?

A very good in depth review! I feel that you liked it even though it is a small sensor camera. Personally I have the EM1 mk2 and a slew of great lenses and I was hoping for Sony A9 level AF and a new glorious viewfinder with higher resolution. I feel somewhat cheated on these two accounts considering the pretty wild pricing of EM1-X, compared to anything else in M43. Your point of having to choose what kind of object the camera needs to recognize also resonates with my own feelings. I feel that much of the selling-points of this camera already exists in some form in my EM1 mk2 and therefor a purchase is not on the table for me. I understand the sentiment that it might be "cheap" in comparison with the Nikon D5 or the Canon 1DXii, but that is not a relevant way to look at it for me. I just own M43 gear and will only compare the new body with other M43 gear. As such, I find the Panasonic G9 more interesting price-wise with a bigger and more high-res viewfinder and rather good videooptions. The EM1-X does not shoot 4K 60 or 10 bit 4:2:2 video and for the life of me I can not understand the omission of these features. Priced higher than anything M43 has to offer it should have ticked all the boxes. That is my two cents, anyway.

Dam is this a good review very professional thank you.

The hand held hires shot of the fire place was sharper than the tripod one... Was it because there was no shutter delay with the tripod shot? So when you pressed the shutter, you introduced vibration in the first few shots taken? Seems likely.

I think this is some of the the nicest vlogging footage I've seen, honestly. What mic were you recording on during the vlogging bits?

Looks like an amazing camera, the price is down now, do you think is a good option in 2021 for M43s shooters? great review by the way!

An 8 second handheld shot with your “coffee hands” is insane. Must be amazing ibis.

I'm surprised Oly isn't marketing the heck out of the drink and sandwich space on the top deck of the camera. That's a feature no other camera maker offers and you are apparently the first reviewer to mention it. :-) When the EM-1X debuted, I bought an EM-1ii. My main reason was to lighten my kit for hiking. If I want big and heavy, my gripped E-5 is even bigger than the EM-1X.

Awesome good job I like it

Great review Gordon. From what I see in the video, the optics in that new wider viewfinder appear very good at the edges. I still can’t get over how poor the optics are in the Panasonic G9 with the edge distortion and text blurring at the edges. I’d love to see a viewfinder with the Panasonic display paired with the Olympus optics.

This is one of those cameras you use and then you never want to put it back in the bag. Although I do shoot M4/3 I find it hard to accept the price unless you are very specialized in some photography. In that case you only have A9 to rival, with pros and cons. A difficult choice for me but an obvious one for some. Great job Gordon!! Nice index menu and very very high like/dislike ratio! Wow

Not sure if you monitor such an old video for comments but this re-appeared in my suggested videos and I decided to rewatch it. It left me wondering how it would hold up to a newer full frame, like the R3...

Very thorough, balanced, and honest review. A few questions on the new/improved (C)AF: * Is the new AI-based system better than standard CAF + tracking? I.e., do you get a higher in-focus ratio using the "cars+trains+planes" setting than if you track the same objects using the standard CAF + tracking? * Can you use "cars+trains+planes" on other objects than... cars, trains, planes? E.g., birds? * How is the in-focus ratio if you zoom while tracking? * Some reports suggest that AF in dim lighting is much improved with the 1X over the 1. Is this your experience?

As always, Gordon, an excellent take on gear. I could listen to your reviews until the cows come home. Sadly, I am not a bovine owner and will listen to other things than your great reviews. That being said, I look forward to your review on the Olympus 150-400mm...which I hope/believe will outperform the Panasonic 100-400. Really, though, you are top-notch.

Best reviewer on the net

as usual detailed and good review. Unfortunately contrary to your kind words I see many artefacts in hires pics as well as weird results from the live nd of the sea. Generally Olympus sharpenings produces quite some halos, else a great camera which is very sturdy and has great ibis. My main complaints besides price are the outdated EVF and LCD.

Best camera Olympus very good I liked

Great review, would have loved to see a segment on the cordless tethering. One question. Either I'm confused about the way the live ND was demonstrated, or that was an odd example. Aren't we meant to set the shutter speed and aperture to what we desire, and /then/ set an ND to enable the shot to be correctly exposed? 🤔

Hi, I am just curious if this camera will work well for sport photography. For close spaces most of it. As I need a faster shutter speed, and 300(eq 600mm)with still or variable aperture. Don't know if will handle well the high ISO. Thank you.

Hi Gordon, nice camera but hefty price as you said. Thanks for this good review

You're spot on, the mft sensor is but a quarter the surface area and probably a quarter of the mass of FF, and this is used to great effect with IBIS. The tiny sensor has far less inertia and momentum than a FF sensor, so it can have long excursions while at the same time travelling at a great speed, and acc and decelerating faster. The chip vibration uses less energy, consumes less power and makes less noise. The 7 stop claim is proof of all this, and your 8 sec HH exposure is remarkable testimony.

Cheers Gordon, a very informative review. I am predominantly a Fujifilm x series shooter but looking for a change as one does after almost 10 years in the one system. Although the newer OM-1 has more up to date specs I usually have a grip attached being an ex EOS series shooter in my film days so I am used to larger bodies in hand. Currently I can pick up this old but a goodie for $1800 Aussie Dollars so I am seriously thinking about the jump as I don’t need a larger sensor for my purposes. Just a tough decision as I am waiting to see what OM systems bring out next and if they build an M1X styled body for the OM-1

Wondering if it works out the way they intended. Maybe a handful of birders and sports shooters, but the latter already seem to be using Canon/Nikon/Sony. For me, it's just more bulk and costs at very little increase in appeal over a E-M1 Mark II or G9. But I'm glad they're sticking to giving MFT a home. Now I just want to see Panasonic's 10-25mm f/1.7 and I'm looking forward to their next gen MFT cams. Because up to the GH4 I was like 'man, I seriously need to go APS-C or bigger' with its great camera body and features but struggling from ISO800 upwards, not having the best color and lack of IBIS. But we've sure come ways since then. Can't wait for GH5S-type performance in a G9 body (with IBIS). Would leave very little else to wish for and doesn't require me jumping to their FF S-line, benefitting from the large collection of compact MFT glass I've gathered over the years.