Olympus E-M5 reviews roundup (Engadget, The Verge and ePhotozine)
Now after Dpreview everyone else is also publishing their own Olympus E-M5 review. Here is one post to rule them all!
TheVerge (Click here) writes: “The Olympus OM-D E-M5 does nearly everything right: it’s fast, gorgeous, and takes great images and video. Its biggest setback is its price: at $1099.99, you’re definitely paying a premium for the E-M5′s gestalt, even over Olympus’s own PEN line of very good Micro Four Thirds cameras.”
Engadget (Click here) says: “The $1,300 kit price will be a tad too much to swallow for some, but with a solid body and a diverse collection of lenses, there hasn’t been a better time to hop aboard Micro Four Thirds.”
Full E-M5 review at ePhotozine (Click here): “The price of the camera is relatively high compared to other Micro Four Thirds cameras, however we feel that the added performance, handling and features of the camera make it easily justified.”
And here is another list of other short tests:
Olympus OM-D First Look: Landscapes & Long Exposures at Invisiblephotographer (Click here). 40mm comparison at DSLRcheck (Click here).E-M5 versus E-PL3 at Soundimagesplus (Click here). Picture of the mini OM camera at Maccocchino (Click here). A Japanese review at Itmedia (Click here). A Hungarian review at Prohardver (Click here). E-M5 versus Nikon D700 at Lepidi (Click here).
Bestseller ->The E-M5 is on top of the sales ranking in Deutschland and Japan. Check the list (changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 6/7/11/19 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 3 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 1/6/12/16 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 1/13 (Click here).
E-M5 in USA+Canada:
Black E-M5 body at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 14-45mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
in Europe:
Black E-M5 body at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here) and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here) and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), eBay (Click here) and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), eBay (Click here) and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
in Asia:
Black E-M5 body at Digitalrev (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon JP (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Digitalrev (Click here) and Amazon JP (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon JP (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 14-45mm lens at Digitalrev (Click here) and Amazon JP (Click here).
MrKal_El
2 years ago |Loving the great press…. Will make getting this camera even harder. Hoping it sells millions!
Paulus
2 years ago |The price of the new OM-D E-M5 is fair.
The E-M5 has an excellent price-performance-ratio.
There is a quantum jump between the Pen-models and the new OM-D-series.
I like my E-PL1 and E-PL2 very much, but my new E-M5 plays in the Premier League.
JimD
2 years ago |That is a wide ranging statement. The price changes from country to country. “The price of the new OM-D E-M5 is fair”. I would have thought it has become quite clear that many do not think so. It is unfair that the price is loaded in some areas and subsidises other areas.
Anonymous
2 years ago |Image quality is mostly improved at higher ISO levels. The image quality (see the test) of the E-PL3 is about the same as the iq of the E-M5 up to ISO 800, still at ISO 1600 the difference is small. So I would not change the cam because of the difference in iq at that ISO range. But at ISO 3200 the difference is more visible, and at ISO 6400 the E-M5 pics look like ISO 1600 (or a little bit more) from the E-PL3. Great Job. But no reason not to shot with as low ISO as possible
But not only image quality counts, there is also the stabilized
EVF, the new IBS, and she looks very sexy 
Matthias
2 years ago |Image quality is about the same up to ISO 800 (see the E-PL3 / E-M5 comparison), at ISO 1600 there is a small difference. I would not change the cam because of the difference in iq at this range (I have an E-PL2). But at ISO 3200, the difference is clearly visible, and at 6400 the E-M5 pics look like ISO 1600 (or a little bit more, but not ISO 3200) pics made with the E-PL3. So iq is mostly improved at higher ISO ranges.
But the E-M5 is not only about iq, it has a stabilized EVF
, the new IBS 
and she looks veeeeery sexy 
43shot
2 years ago |Plus EM-5 ergonomics suck in comparison to other m43 cameras. Really disappointed and using my GF-1 more for street shooting.
Geoff
2 years ago |Ergonomics are beautiful, everything falls to hand as I like, or should I say finger, the camera is a dream to use, and walks over other u4/3rds bodies. Come on Olympus keep up the good work, all we need now are more weathersealed lenses.
roger48
2 years ago |Does that mean you bought it before you had handled it? What a dumbo.
Jeff_006
2 years ago |I was GH1 user and I have now E-M5 and I really prefer E-M5 controls. I can reach more quickly the main controls and particularly the AF position in the frame which was very boring with GH1.
Agent00soul
2 years ago |Image quality is NOT the same up to 800 ISO. The E-M5 has a full stop larger dynamic range than the E-P3 (and other Pens) at low ISO.
Jeff_006
2 years ago |I’m expecting more than a stop improvement on DR. One stop more than E-P3 is still less than GH2…I hope it is 1.5 or 2 Ev improvement !
Agent00soul
2 years ago |Sorry, I misread Pekka Potka’s graph. It’s actually two full stops at most ISO settings (both raw and jpeg).
Fan
2 years ago |Black one nicely in stock in Germany, still waiting for silver!!!!!
Dogbytes
2 years ago |Price? Price? Nope, sorry, I’ve forgotten already. And no, I’m not rich but I bought my previous camera, the PEN E-P1, three years ago. In that time I’d have used the price of an E-M5 in film and developing if I wasn’t using digital.
bobo
2 years ago |Gotta love how these reviewers always mistreat the equipment.. makes me puke. You obviously don’t pay for the gear, or you would bother learning how to properly attach a lens without destroying the mount.. jokers.
caver3d
2 years ago |How do you like the way he bounced the camera around throughout the review? Very abusive. Made me crazy. Give him a valium.
Atle
2 years ago |Are you talking about the engadget one? I would hope the mount would handle that without being destroyed….
bobo
2 years ago |Yes, Engadget.. Even if a lens mount is build to take some, I would never dream of mounting a lens so badly.. maybe because I pay for my gear, but also when one does a review, maybe it would help that they actually know how to use the gear.. if this had been a Porsche 911 review, the clutch would have been fried.
dan
2 years ago |Did he have the biggest hand ever or was that a miniature version of the camera
mclarenf3
2 years ago |I love engadget, but that is one BORING review. Maybe it’s because I have the camera already, but it was pretty dull.
caver3d
2 years ago |I’m really getting sick and tired with these reviewers complaining about the price – treating it as a negative. You get what you pay for. There are so many great features in this camera – it is well worth it. Once you start listing what this camera can do, and how well it does it, you can see that this is a quality product. That’s why I preordered (Feb. 7). I don’t throw around my money, but I will pay for something that I believe brings great value, and will be a pleasure to use. Olympus got this one right and we all benefit from it. The future is bright for the OM-D series.
fan_guo_lai_xiang_xiang
2 years ago |I am also not throwing around my money, and that’s why I am not getting it for 1099 Euro (currently a juicy amount of 1.452,45 USD) for the body only. I herewith demand fairer international pricing.
Kenny
2 years ago |I agree. While I’m getting the body only, and it is probably one of my biggest purchase this year, it seems like the price is right for what it is especially considering development costs. I am very glad I dont have to say”I would have paid more if they just made it more: robust/used metal/made it weatherproof/better iq etc. etc. “, It seems like other than pdaf/tracking, Olympus really put together a thorough and well-focused MFT product, that focuses on enjoying still photography.
It looks like I will be able to enjoy the camera for years, and considering I still enjoy my E-1 on day to day use after eight years (and occasionally the OM-1), I have no trouble trusting Olympus’s longevity and value.
kraft2000
2 years ago |Actually I have to agree with the reviewers about the price. Do you guys realize that the GX1 ( even if highly criticized it’s still quite new ) and the GH2 ( ok, past year model ) cost 700$ with a kit lens ? I believe the IQ is very similar, and I don’t think the weatherproof + image stabilization + viewfinder justify paying twice the price.
Birdie
2 years ago |One more E-M5 review (computer translated):
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=hu&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=hu&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpixinfo.com%2Fcikkek%2Folympus_om-d_e-m5
More than 50 test photos here:
http://pixinfo.com/fgep/Olympus_E-M5/tesztfotok/
Bob B.
2 years ago |The press on the OM is just unbelievable. Don’t own one. Might. ….but I am really glad I hooked into this whole system when I was impressed with the GF1. I own ten lenses, most of them primes and have owned/own 4 MFT bodies. On breadth alone MFT has all the other mirrorless options beat, and I know that the bodies to attach to my lenses are just going to get better and better. For once I picked correctly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Canon better not ruin this for me, LOL).
matt jones
2 years ago |With respect to the Engadget review, one of his gripes was the battery indicator. With the E-P3 there are 5 different battery indicator settings, I have mine set at +1 to warn me a little in advance of a waning battery. Surely the E-M5 is the same, and surely Olympus would have mentioned this had the reviewer actually brought the issue up with them, as he alluded.