New Olympus E-M1 video from the launch event! Can you spot me?

New Olympus E-M1 video from the Launch event!

EM1

Hey guys! Just saw this video on YouTube from Olympus on the new OM-D E-M1 and it’s pretty cool if I do say so myself ๐Ÿ™‚

This is the event I attended with a few other bloggers and photographers where we witnessed 1st hand the launch of the new OM-D E-M1. I even give my quick impressions in this video while shooting with the E-M1 at night, see if you can spot me (not too hard with my bald head) ย ๐Ÿ™‚

The E-M1 is proving to be pretty popular and is pre-selling VERY well. I can not wait for release and I will have more from the camera, much more, in the next two weeks because I will be headed to Dublin, Ireland and Castle Leslie for 2-3 days to attend another event where I will be able to use the camera. Can’t wait and of course I will report here with info as soon as I get images, details, and some real use with the camera. As always, I will let you guys know the real deal.

The OM-D E-M1 is Olympus’s flagship that is the top of the heap in Micro 4/3 as well as a replacement for the normal 4/3 E-5. Micro 4/3 has come a long way and continues to impress.

You can pre-order at B&H Photo, Amazon or PopFlash.com

19 Comments

  1. What a great event! Were they testing the live view function using the fireworks? In Ireland, they do “light painting” instead which is good fun.

    I really get the impression that Olympus has started to understand the importance of connecting with its users on a personal level in this day in age. It’s something Fuji has been doing for a while with its X Photographers, and as a result, they have a very faithful fan base. I can only wish Olympus every success with their endeavour.

    Stewart >> I had a chat with an Olympus marketing manager the other day and he said that the company doesn’t want to give the impression that MFT is only good for video, so they leave that field to Panasonic. They’d rather be known as a high quality still image company.

    Heather

    • Yea, the event was cool. We were indeed doing Light Painting in that scene and using Live Time on the camera was quite amazing as you see it expose in real time. No other camera has this feature and is quite amazing for night scenes/long exposures.

  2. Any word on why they haven’t improved the video?

    I have an M5 and have been sorely disappointed with the video and will probably be switching to the GX-7:(

  3. I was going to say it might be like trying to find Waldo. Then you appeared on the spotlight. Haha. You got me!

  4. Where’s Huff-o?

    0:32
    0:41 (This one was the hardest!)
    1:44

    I couldn’t find the shoe, scarf or walking stick though….

    Ireland? I am green with envy! Enjoy…

  5. I am going to flat out ask it: Putting the issue of a fixed lens vs. an interchangeable lens aside, which camera is better in terms of image quality and ergonomics, the Olympus OM-D-M1 or the Fuji X100S?

    • I’ll just say it. The X100s.

      Fuji’s X-Trans sensor from that camera and the X-Pro 1 are producing results that several photographers find capable of challenging both the Canon 5DIII and Nikon D800…which is pretty extraordinary. Here’s but one example >> http://photographylife.com/reviews/fuji-x-pro1/7

      Micro 4/3s simply cannot do that. It’s just physics.

      That being said, I fully expect the OM-D E-M1 to be a strong performer in it’s own right. And IQ aside, everything else about this camera just looks like it just rocks!

      But it will never “knock on the door” of full-frame the way the X-Trans sensor has been demonstrably doing.

      Again, horses for courses.

      • So, and I have no axe to grind here, the m4/3 camera cant challenge the 100s because “that’s just physics”….but the X100s can challenge full frame? where did the physics go? does the xtrans change the laws of physics in some way? or are you saying that each system can challenge the next sensor size up, but not the one after that?

        DoF will need wider apertures to get the same effect on a smaller sensor of course, but those lenses do exist, the 100s is f2 I think. For larger prints and high ISO, a larger sensor will help of course, though if one uses wider apertures to get the same DoF one might already have neutralised part of that argument by not needing the higher ISO in the first place. Or am I missing something?

        • Those are excellent points. I’ll endeavor to explain.

          The X-Trans sensor is able to challenge full-frame to a large extent because it utilized a technological breakthrough at the most fundamental level: the pixel array arrangement.

          That’s what enables it to compete with full-frame in a way no other APS-C camera can.

          Yes, I do think it’s fair to say that a system can challenge the next sensor size up, but NOT the one after that, simply because the size gulf becomes too great to overcome the the laws of physics, barring anything less than a quantum technological breakthrough. It’s just a bridge too far.

          Remember that any improvements we see in smaller sensors are likely to be adopted in larger sensors, too. So, generally, the quality gulf between smaller and larger sensors will always remain.

          This is why many hold the belief that if Fuji elects to build a camera with a full-frame X-Trans sensor, it will present a serious challenge to Nikon and Canon (and others) almost overnight.

          As to ISOs and so forth, yes, if you should at ISO800 or below and are not planning big enlargements, Micro 4/3s is likely all you’ll ever need. And โ€• and here is where Olympus has been very clever with technology โ€• the 5-Axis Image Stabilization can probably prevent you from having to dial the ISO too high in the first place. So there’s you’re work-around with the OM-D right there.

          • No camera is perfect everywhere all the time, otherwise we would all just own the same thing…the Fuji camp challenges D800 camp – the Sigma DPMerrill 1/2/3 camp challenges medium format ( 2 sizes up )…but..but …but…Fuji files get mushed greens ( along with the camera’s somewhat lacking autofocus) the Merrills crap out over ISO 400….both have quirky raw processing…etc,etc…I still own and use an old Olympus E-420 – just a small bit bigger than this new EM1 ( very small ) and it’s 2 4/3 kit lenses and it’s sensor won’t handle night or shadows well but when the light is right it produces very nice files and prints – ( I’m not blowing up prints to 40×60 ) and even the old kit lenses are quite decent quality….forums seem full of people who want a camera that will take a photo of the Empire State building and have it blown up to life size….when in actuality they probably show most of their stuff on their phone or tablet ( but the specs! the specs! – they make it better!!! )…well if we all spent as much time improving our skills as we do wanting the next greatest thing then in the end it all might not matter at all…

      • Robert, fairly absurd post given the fact that you’ve probably not held or shot with the Olympus. Not only that, but your contention about how good x-trans is compared to full frame is highly debatable. I can’t tell you how many times full frame shooters have shown up to forums to say that’s bunk. In fact they often play the same “physics” card you’ve just played.

        • Not absurd at all.

          Actually, I have shot with the E-M5. And I am an Olympus owner. So I have first-hand experience with this

          Re: “I canโ€™t tell you how many times full frame shooters have shown up to forums.” That’s hardly verifiable, quantifiable, or empirical data.

          The physics argument is certainly not bunk. It’s reality. Perhaps not coincidentally it’s also simple common sense, when you stop and think about it.

          It’s always been this way. It’s the same reason why medium format cameras have, and continue, to remain viable. It’s why certain fine art galleries and global clients will not even accept images from a Nikon D800, because as good as it is, it cannot match a Phase One medium format camera for tonal separation or gradations, even if it has become startlingly close in terms of sheer resolution.

          Here’s some reading on the subject >>

          http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/08/02/sensor-size-is-what-matters-and-the-trend-is-for-larger-says-aptina?utm_campaign=internal-link&utm_source=news-list&utm_medium=text&ref=title_5

          http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/sensor-design.shtml

          • Doh! Thank you, everyone, for your thoughtful, constroversial, but most of all, considered answers. From what I gather, the jury is still out… Steve? A side-by-side comparison test? Better yet, one of your blind voter polls, comparing the same photos from these two cameras, might be in order? ;

          • Somewhere up there Robert wrote “horses for courses” on that we should all agree. Personally I have an OMD EM5 and a Canon 5D3. Mostly I use the former with it’s great little fast primes, and a Voigtlander f0.95 when I want to mitigate the physics; 90% of the time that is all my talent levels and my A3 printer require and it’s a joy to use. I haven’t used an Xtrans or any Fuji, and since it sits between the two I have I am unlikely to.
            One can like it’s colour output or not, but too many high quality posts have been put on this forum for it to be dismissed as an option for those that are looking to choose a system. If it comes down to how much you like to use it, then all the blog reading in the world won’t replace hands on time.

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