Olympus E-M5

usayit · Feb 4, 2012

So the whole mirror-less concept is really taking off and in some parts of the world are already popular. Nikon J, Pentax Q, Samsung, Sony NEX, Pentax K-01, Fuji (of sorts) all going after the current market leaders Olympus and Panasonic. Olympus has leaked their next release which is divergent of their "Pen" design. Some of the old OM film camera shooters may notice the familiar look.

http://www.43rumors.com/ft5-first-full-size-pictures-of-the-e-m5/

Looks big but reports actually place it in the same size category as the current E-P3 with the addition of a "hump" for the built in EVF. Of course, that's before one bolts on the extra grip. Finally, updating the old sensor that has been in reuse since the initial release of the E-P1 and hopefully improving on CDAF performance.

nickzou · Feb 4, 2012

Man that viewfinder looks like it was designed by Hajime Katoki. I'm not sure how this stacks up in my mind against the X-Pro 1. I guess we'll have to see what the price is.

usayit · Feb 4, 2012

We'll have to see when it comes out.... there's a lot of inconsistent rumors floating. One mentioned that the viewfinder itself tilts which could explain the strange design. My guess price wise will be similar to that of the GH2 Panasonic. I doubt that it will approach the price of the XPro1 (which IMO is overpriced at $1700 USD)

nickzou · Feb 4, 2012

Is the grip detachable? Looks like it is.

Garbz · Feb 4, 2012

Based on the other "rumour" picture I saw (the camera was blurry) the grip is detachable. Though not sure why you would want to detach it given when you do it looks impossibly small to hold.

I've been thinking of getting a micro 4/3rds for a while now. It does help that my girlfriend shoots 4/3rds so with an adapter I'd have access to a whole array of Olympus lenses

I think the best way to do it would be to wait till this baby comes out and then go to keh and pickup a second hand epl-3

usayit · Feb 4, 2012

nickzou said:
Is the grip detachable? Looks like it is.

It looks like there are actually two attached grips.... notice that there are two locking dials. One is the grip and anoer unit screws to the bottom of that one to provide another shutter button and perhaps a battery pack.

Jeremy Z · Feb 4, 2012

Thanks for sharing the progress. I read one of the earlier posts, which speculated that the body would be $1200 or so.

It would have to be awfully good to sell many of them at that price, as that would be a really nice Canon or Nikon. Maybe even a full frame SLR with a proper pentaprism.

If Olympus really wants to remain relevant, they have to refrain for introducing gimmicks and pricing themselves out of the market.

I think real prices will be below $1200. Maybe WELL below.

TimGilbertson · Feb 4, 2012

That thing is gorgeous! I own an Olympus E420 that I use old manual OM lenses on. It's fine for what it is, a tiny true SLR. That being said, I shoot Canon professionally.

The fact is that cameras of this class don't really need an optical viewfinder, and frankly I'm starting to think OVFs are relevant at all anymore.

nickzou · Feb 5, 2012

usayit said:
It looks like there are actually two attached grips.... notice that there are two locking dials. One is the grip and anoer unit screws to the bottom of that one to provide another shutter button and perhaps a battery pack.

Alright! I'm down for this. I think I've made it known that I'm no fan of big cameras. I understand the purpose and usefulness of cameras like D4's and such but at the very heart, even if I do want to do this professionally, I am a hobbyist and forever will be and that particular line of cameras, that intersection between function and form is always where my attention is drawn. I'm trying to imagine the camera without the two grips, looks promising.

usayit · Feb 5, 2012

nickzou said:
Alright! I'm down for this. I think I've made it known that I'm no fan of big cameras. I understand the purpose and useful of cameras like D4's and such but at the very heart, even if I do want to do this professionally, I am a hobbyist and forever will be and that particular line of cameras, that intersection between function and form is always where my attention is drawn. I'm trying to imagine the camera without the two grips, looks promising.

Looks like you are not the only one trying to imagine the camera without grips.

http://soundimageplus.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-more-om-d-images.html

usayit · Feb 5, 2012

Jeremy Z said:
Thanks for sharing the progress. I read one of the earlier posts, which speculated that the body would be $1200 or so.

It would have to be awfully good to sell many of them at that price, as that would be a really nice Canon or Nikon. Maybe even a full frame SLR with a proper pentaprism.

If Olympus really wants to remain relevant, they have to refrain for introducing gimmicks and pricing themselves out of the market.

I think real prices will be below $1200. Maybe WELL below.

One of Panasonics best sellers, especially with those interested in video capabilities, is the Panasonic GH2 was priced similarly when it was announced back in late 2010. So it is believable rumored price.

LungFish · Feb 5, 2012

I don't really follow the logic of a battery grip for mirrorless. Is it supposed to be small and easy to carry or big and easy to hold? If you want to make it bigger then why leave the mirror out?

Overread · Feb 5, 2012

I can see the logic - the mirrorless are attracting a lot of regular DSLR shooters who specifically want a quality, yet small camera to use. Thus far most have been limited to the high end bridge cameras or using entry level bodies. The mirrorless fits into that market slot really well, so providing a mirrorless which can bulk itself up to mimic a DSLR even more is a good idea - esp since most DSLR shooters will be used to using grips for portrait aspect shots.

I'll be interested to see how big this is in comparison, but I've already been eager for an EP series and with the built in viewfinder I think this will be a sure seller for me (viewfinder and flash capable at the same time

)