Compact and feature-packed: Our Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III review

For me this failure is epic. I feel the same way you do. I don't use a tripod strap but this makes me doubt the quality of the camera in other areas because of it. I was going to buy one to travel to an event in March. After seeing this I decided to wait on the outcome. If I don't see something that satisfied me, I'll take the EM-5.2 instead.

Last posts I read before the thread ran out of space, the OP and another owner contacted OLY and said they would post OLY's response. I suspect the company will respond to this. I want to see that before buying the camera.

I like this camera a lot to carry with smaller, lighter lenses with my EM-1.2 with bigger, heavier lenses. I have to be convinced it is robust enough to buy one.

As I wrote, I am witholding any judgement until a bit more is known. I read all 150 of the posts on the thread.

I too am looking for something small, light and durable--An EM-1 Mark II light.

The tripod mount is just something I want to concern myself with. I would mount the camera on a tripod. The camera would be mounted on the tripod as I move around a mountain lake for position.

I thought the same thing. I sometimes carry the tripod on my shoulder with the camera attached. With the 40-150PRO or the 300 f/4 PRO the tripod collar can/should be used but on the end of a tripod the forces on the camera are greater than in your hand or on a neck strap when you are moving around in the wild. The camera is changing direction on the end of a "stick". That increases the g-force on the camera quit a bit.

Even with something like the 12-40PRO or the 12-100PRO this would be scary for me with the EM-5.3 from the images posted. I would be afraid to do it. I do not want to have to remove/replace the camera on the tripod every time I move the tripod. I need a camera body strong enough to be confident it will not break from hopping over a log or jumping down from a boulder.

A typo above--the tripod mount is something that I don't want to think about.

I usually throw the tripod with camera mounted over my shoulder and walk to the next place to take a shot--it usually isn't far. These are not long lenses either.

I am more concerned with camera colliding with a boulder when I turn.

The OP with the broken camera didn't have long lenses on it. He claims the camera wasn't subjected to extreme forces, a little bouncing on a strap when riding his bike. Subject to how his experience is resolved I will not risk it on a tripod with a 1lb+ lens on it. I might be overly cautious feeling this way. OK with me. I'm going to guess if needed OLY is going to strengthen the tripod mount on the body and repair/replace broken early serial number cameras for free. They did for my EM5 when the shutter broke with 15K shots on it out of warranty and with the hood on my 40-150PRO which I bought used but registered. The lens never had a warranty for me. OLY didn't ask anything, just said they had a run of them with bad glue. Two days later a new replacement showed up at my doorstep. Based on this experience if the EM-5.3 tripod mount is not strong enough, I think they will do something about it but I'll wait to buy one until they do or its proven it is not needed.

It looked like an orange peel pulled back to me. It was quite an image. $1,200 of camera and a piece of junk mount. The OP must have been heartbroken and/or very angry. We have to see whether this is a design flaw or a manufacturing flaw.

Mounting the camera on a peak design clip and going for a walk or bike ride shouldn't be a big deal.

Weird! The plastic E-M10 series has never had this problem as far as I know. So I'm in doubt that it is the fault of a 'plastic design'. It may be a bad design, but the principle of plastic body design is not weakened by this. This inclines me more towards purchasing an Em1 II in the next month or two.

Regarding m43s low light capabilities. I rarely, almost never, find myself in a situation where I need an ISO higher than 6400. That, coupled with the IBIS is really all I need. I don't think m43s will ever be as good in low light as FF.

For me, that's OK, for others, not so much.

i would .. this is the most tempting camera for me in any market segment.
if its well made and finished, i don't mind any material!

I understand the problem with plastic, but....

1. the metal camera's are also covered with paint, so you are not holding bare metal. The feel of plastics could be the same as metal (except the temperature). In your hands you feel paint, rubber, etc.
2. plastics are lighter than metals

Most compact camera's are made from plastics, who's complaining?

"Deeply disappointed"?? Really? Plastics today are not what they were just 10 years ago - far more durable, etc- and as someone who carries a camera almost every waking hour, I for one really appreciate the easier handling and MUCH lighter load. In addition, camera technology moves so fast that I rarely keep a camera body more than three years before moving on to the next iteration. Bottom line: The composition of the body has ZERO impact on IQ and most aren't going to hang-on to the same body for the composition to actually matter in the long run.

well said gentlemen :)
@Corros @User5185721317

plastic polycarbonate nowadays has better shock resistance than metal, also much lighter

i see no issue here too

my kyocera smartphone made up entire plastic but it's tank stand against alots of abuse

yup, but you´ll suffer buying lenses. Prize & size are somewhat different :-)

You tend to forget (like most sensorsizeworshippers) that what you gain from a slightly larger sensor, you lose by having no proper IBIS. So you will have less noise but exchange it for jitter. Which is impossible to deal with in post, whereas you can make choices for dealing with (slightly) more noise. Only then you can start to think about how to deal with the (inferior to most Olympus) glass.

"slightly larger" because when you compare it to real large sensors the difference between "FF" and mid-format is huge. Full Frame was in my young Boomer days very small. 6x6 or 6x4,5 was for the real pro's ;-)

Sensor size video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHYidejT3KY&list=PLcfPUmkCbbC0HFsnk7Z0v5uybnLlUytkA&index=2&t=9s

imho it doesnt matter how much bigger it is ..
it's really important what bigger number is good enough for you ..
4/3 sensor can do better than many FF digital sensors even in terms of pure IQ numbers.
Where they really shine, is usability.
Don't get me wrong, I own both FF and 4/3 for different reasons.
Where its not extremely low light I prefer 4/3 sensor size though..

My E-M5 Mk ll is a dog at CAF for sports such as community (dim light) ice hockey, soccer and high school basketball. I'm not surprised they found CAF problems on this one.

My E-M1 Mk ll is a revelation, after the BIG firmware upgrade.

It might be an E-M1 Mk ll 'Lite' — but there's got to be something missing in the smaller package. Maybe a big firmware can tweak the problems, maybe not.

@bazzzH skip the booze? lol. Lay off the drugs dude. CAF is a well known weakness of the PEN F, and its not just me saying it. That said, I can get by taking soccer photos with CAF in good light providing I set the shutter release to only trigger if focused. That unfortunately doesn't help with video. Even setting my aperture at F8 still hunts. Its brutal to be honest. Perhaps as Barry said above, the OMD EM1MKII is the ticket, but I didn't enjoy holding it.

It hasn't been because there was no reason to. Cameralabs review of the E-M5 III actually brought up that they seemed to have crippled to the CAF in order to keep sales of the E-M5 III from taking away from E-M1 sales.

@Logical man
There are rumours that most of the industry may shut down and Olympus seem one of the few that are making statements which show an interest in making cameras in to the foreseeable future.
I expect the ones that crack may be the least expected and the ones seemingly struggling at the moment may be the one's left.

I hope you are not too complacent about the future of your particular choice. No gear on your list so who knows where you are coming from. If for example Sony got bored with the cost of all this technological churn and walked away I doubt if it would make any difference to their overall business with the relatively small group of angry photographers left high and dry as with Samsung.

No IBIS with Fuji and their new 16-80 lens with plenty of stabilisation is not exactly setting things afire on the forum. Using primes give me m43 any day unless the sun is shining bright.

Pricey...

They've gone back and forth between both lenses IIRC, possibly based on what's on hand or whatever but it's annoying. Hopefully they use the Noct only going forward...

You're likely correct, that it's most likely the lens. Apologies I didn't catch that earlier. I'd forgotten when we'd made the switch. We will use the Noct going forward.

Nothing wrong with the 6Dii (except video), but this little weather sealed camera does a heck of a lot more. No, in some ways the sensor is not as good (though it has faster sensor readout, can do 30fps, and has less rolling shutter), but virtually everything else this guy does better.

Canon APSC is a little smaller than Nikon/Fuji/Sony. There is less than half stop difference theoretically and possibly less in real life.
So like you say, consider everything else because they are more important.

The little sensor out sells ALL FF. In Japan it's been the best selling mount for several years.
More companies make M43 cameras than any other system.
It's been the chosen format for video by this site and many others for years now.
It's used in everything from security cameras to video cameras.
It actually has been a huge success and has become a popular standard that even Sony and numerous other companies use.

m6ii is a complete rip-off compare to this little gem!

TowerJazz still makes sensors.
And Sony is making more M43 sensors than ever because they are so popular and in demand.
There are at least have a dozen companies selling M43 cameras.

@ Kendra wheelwright you are such a cute little troll. You are doing real photography or you just enjoy spending time trolling the forums?

pfffff advice my butt. "The real deal full-frame deal". LOL. The best full-frame camera in the universe won't make you a better photographer.

If Olympus camera division will be sold off so it will be sold off. In 5-6-7 years I will buy my gear from a different manufacturer that offers the gear the suits my needs.

So grow up man.

The Panasonic S1 is a great camera. The problem is that it cost 2 times more than the MK5, weights 2.5 times more and the lenses weight and cost between 3-4 times more compared to MFT. Enjoying carrying this on your next trek in the mountains.

I will carry my 400 grams MFT + 100 grams prime lens.

Honey, bigger camera won’t enlarge your dick. Just saying.

The air is pretty thin at 10,000 feet or so.
Everything seems heavy.

It can shoot sharp handheld images at 1-2 seconds, other cameras need at least 1/10th.

https://petapixel.com/2017/05/19/can-shoot-milky-way-hand-held-olympus-e-m1-mark-ii/

Like you said FF can't do that. You need lug around a giant tripod tripping and falling in the dark.

Poor ff users can't shoot milkyway because tripod is too big and they fall in the dark. MFT comes to rescue us all and show the glorious photos of milkyway never seeen before!!!
BTW where are your photos?

You are right.

The EM1/2 is better for shooting landscapes in low light handheld.

It is that simple.

But I am sure you always carry a giant tripod, so you don't have to worry about it.

So, resorting to personal attacks just because you were proven wrong. Lol, so predictable.

No people don't normally carry tripods on overnight hikes.
The only reason people lug them around is because they have to, and their cameras stabilation is not good enough.

One last thing.
Ive shot with M43 in near total darkness handheld and achieved better results than I could dream of with a FF camera that cost double. All because the superior IBIS let me shoot at lower ISOs.

I could go on and on about how you are wrong, but you are on a mission to bash this system and I know Nothing will change the mind of a person like you.

If those manufacturers you mentioned we're not courageous enough to introduce 4:3 ratio, maybe mFT could be courageous enough to offer 3:2 ratio? I would look at the option as an extra body!

3:2 is annoying because the frame is so much wider than it is tall and in horizontal layout everything looks squashed and short; 4:3 and 5:4 are excellent, and Academy ratio (1.375:1) is nearly perfect, but square format is the true chosen one and the only righteous image shape.

Thanks Slouch Hooligan. I always shoot and print 4:3. I'm not interested in FF so the choice for me is MFT or APS-C. If I would use APS-C I would need to crop to 4:3. Than I would lose the small advantage APS-C has in IQ and would gain in weight and size.

Because their legs are shorter than adults' and their muscles and bones haven't fully developed kids just aren't that fast in general.
However, if your child can outrun the Olympus autofocus system you shouldn't be standing around like an sap snapping pictures. You should be out there setting up sponsorships and endorsement deals so you can make some money off of him or her before the inevitable crash and burn from overuse injuries, parental stress, or teenage rebellion.

Olympus autofocus is excellent (in there hybrid systems) . For S-AF it's the fastest available. For C-AF it's just behind the top on some occasions, in most occasions just as fast. It's way faster than any professional sports dSLR from 5 years ago. If you are not able to capture some running and playing kids than the problem is the photographer.

You are right.
The cameras SAF auto focus is perfectly accurate and virtually instant. CAF is not perfect but still excellent.
Focus means nothing though if your stabilation is poor, and Oly has the best. So as I said there are tradeoffs. I would absolutely pick a camera with auto focus like the Olympus and the best IBIS.
If video means anything, then the low rolling shutter and gimbal like IS is what you want.

Your first listed feature is a negative.

Maybe to you, but not to me.

M43 sensor area is 68% that of Nikon APS-C and 69% that of Canon APS-C

M43 sensor area is about 26% that of “full frame”

Look at the images on the Olympus website. They are amazing, shot by pro photographers and show how much headroom there is to work with using the 4/3 system.

Or put another way the absolute size of the sensor is not the full story. But it takes a lot less effort to say the same tired things that have always been said about m4/3.

No matter how clever or skilled those pro photographers may be , not one of them has yet been able to defeat the laws of physics in that unfortunate relationship between sensor size and image quality.

It’s true that larger sensors can give clean files in slightly more conditions than smaller sensors. But so what? Art directors, print buyers, wedding planners, etc. don’t care what hardware produced the file. Any camera can get gorgeous images in daylight, dark, gold hour or blue hour if the user knows the hardware, what to point the lens at, and when.

I generally agree a larger sensor has advantages over smaller formats when it comes to more challenging situations such as very poor light. That said this is an extreme scenario. My FF cameras still have issues with IQ if I push them hard enough.
The issues of IQ degradation is repeatable with FF given adverse conditions and this is in the nature of sensors.
M4/3 are largely indistinguishable from other formats when correctly exposed in most shooting situations.

Yet there are no cameras at this price point that offer what E-M5 III does.

Hence the price.

Given the current prices I'm seeing for the G9 and the discontinued G85, I don't see why anyone would rush out to buy this.

A bit bigger? It's absurdly huge in comparison.

If image quality matters according to the price point of this camera there are a lot of better choices out there:
Nikon D750
Sony A7
Fuji X-T100
Fuji X-T30

If you have some of the excellent FT lenses Olympus like the 12-60 e.g. made, this camera is a good pick

One of those nice cool drinks that come loaded with rum and include an umbrella swizzle stick.

Only until people are used to the lower price. Then they will come on here complaining that the price needs to drop 25%. It's DPR comments and totally out of touch with the real world.

They need to raise the prices in the long run - cant be avoided. The market is shrinking and they need to distribute costs on less cameras.

Ehh, the E-M5 III is only coming in at $100 more than the previous model 4+ years ago... You can argue it's value but the line has always hovered at this price point and that hasn't really changed (and $100 != 25%), the PEN-F actually launched at the same price and I thought *that* was overpriced on the heels of the E-M5 II since it had a smaller EVF (ironically so does the mk III) and lacked weather sealing.

Now, Oly could've undercut it's past price point if they wanted to be more aggressive, but as far as they go there isn't as sharp of an upward trend. I do agree there's a bit of that going on in general, with iterative Sony models going up the price ladder as old ones remain in production, and with flagship models (eg X-T3, E-M1 II) going for even higher price points then coming back down with time... That makes the lineup confusing at times.

Most who has actually used this camera say it shows off a VERY GOOD build quality. So, that much for the "plastic fantastic" cry so many others sound off...

Regardless of build quality (which is above average) and overall capability (which is very good), it is expensive for what it is. And the market will show it in a few months.

MrALLCAPS@ - Shirley you must be joking... The XT-30 doesn't have IBIS, weather sealing with an official IPX1 rating and fully articulating LCD. If you don't care about these features you can save 300 - 400 dollars.

Regarding the G9 - I had it for a few weeks. I returned it back to Amazon. The camera is too big and heavy and in my opinion missed completely the point of MFT format.

Ditto. Cant agree with you more!

The problem is m43 use smaller sensors and almost everyone knows sensor size is the biggest cost of a camera. So it becomes harder to accept a high priced m43 camera especially a plastic one

So brendon: what do they cost? Some simple math can show you what your comment could mean. All parts cost 1 euro. A mft sensor costs 80 euro and an APS-c sensor 100 euro. The summ of all parts is 600 euro for the mFT and 620 for the APS-c. So it would not make a significant difference at all...clearly.

No: it is an example in which yes the sensor is the mostly costly part but where the difference in price is insignificant. What someones perception is, is another matter. It seems this Em5.3 is meant mostly for those invested in the system. It is not meant fro people who switch over it seems. or less so. The Em10,3 or the G80 are much better suited for many of those new buyers.

@platinumkid
I don't seem to be able to find any new certified weather proof camera with 6-6.5 stops IBIS and a flip out screen for $900. Where are those cameras?

What if I don't like sliced bread?

Good point! How about best thing since ... Coca Cola?

Its probably because the sour dough rolls keep trying to insist they are better than sliced bread. Rabid? much too strong. However in a post that is about sliced bread, one wonders why all the sour dough rolls need to seek attention, the rest of us already know where to look if we were interested.

I just admit that I do like sour dough rolls ...

I'm a huge supporter of m4/3, but I don't believe it's the best thing, there is a lot of better stuff out there. But for me it's good enough and I love the lens choice, lens weight & size, it's unique for m4/3, so I'll just stick to it.

Microsoft isn't using "Bob" any more! It's short, friendly, and easy to remember. Certainly better than the name "Rebel" for the most conventional camera, EVER!

@Raist3d OTOH, Fuji makes you pay a premium for weather sealing on bodies by only putting it on their ToTL $1,300+ models (X-T3, X-Pro 3)... And some of their better/faster primes still lack sealing as well.

Neither system has an ideal prime combo in this regard, it's almost a cruel irony that Fuji makes the cheaper small sealed primes (the whole f2 line) and M4/3 has the cheaper small sealed bodies (E-M5 & G## line, the G85 in particular has aged rather well and is still around at $700 w/a sealed kit lens).

Also, I know you said primes in your second sentence, but you did say "lenses" in the first one and M4/3 is absolutely not lacking for small/cheap zooms with sealing, practically swimming in them really with just about every possible permutation of sealed super zooms and even kit zooms now.

There's the Sigma 56/1.4 too btw, but I'd really like to see a smaller wide prime with sealing.

$1,300 for an X-T3 is hardly "paying a premium." I mean, what's the Olympus option we are discussing.. $1,200 with its own set of cons and non magnesium alloy body? As for the lenses note that I am responding to the original poster.

That's the current sale price for Fuji tho, if you're gonna compare MSRPs then it's $1,500 for the X-T3 and even more than that for the new X-Pro 3 vs $1,200 for the E-M5 II.

If we're gonna compare sales prices and older models then M4/3 still comes off pretty well (which is why I brought up the $700 G85, whereas the X-T2 is apparently still $1,300 wth... not sure why they aren't putting those on sale when the X-T3 is on sale)...

I imagine the E-M5 III will be seeing the usual $100-200 off discounts from Oly before long, a $200-300 difference buys ya an extra lens. Not sure what you mean about lenses as the OP didn't say anything about primes specifically...

The Fuji stacks up if you don't want IBIS. But it's hard to imagine a day when the your and about needing a weather sealed lens because it's raining but there is loads of light.