Overview
Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II is one of the most beautiful entries into the mirrorless paradigm, with an intriguing combination of advanced technology and retro design. Essentially, this camera is a successor to the original E-M10, with numerous improvements catering to amateur and semi-professional photographers. The E-M10 Mark II is built around a micro four-thirds sensor with genuinely good in-body stabilization, packed into a body small enough to carry all day. This review gets into the design, image quality, and features, and how it compares to the competition.
Design and build quality
Olympus clearly designed this one to look like a film camera from decades ago — compact, weather-sealed, with the kind of retro styling that either does something for you or doesn’t. It comes in silver or all-black. Pick it up and the magnesium alloy body has real weight to it; nothing about it feels like it’ll fall apart if you toss it in a bag with your keys.
One of the things that have charmed in the design of the E-M10 Mark II is the ergonomic grip. The camera comfortably fits in hand, all thanks to the well-designed grip and placement of controls. The control is in an intuitive arrangement that allows quick and unhindered access to settings that need to be set quickly. The feel of the dials and buttons adds to the overall experience, which makes one feel good while using it for longer periods.
Portability
With a weight of just 390 g (approximately 0.86 lbs), the E-M10 Mark II gains portability as its major asset when it comes to travel and day-to-day handling. This compact design allows it to be efficiently packed into a tiny bag or camera insert, while long shooting days will not get tiresome on your shoulder. This, along with lightweight design and compact dimensions, makes this camera truly portable and compact even for a lot of DSLRs and even some mirrorless contenders.
Sensor And Image Quality
Sensor Spec
The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II features a 16-megapixel micro four-thirds sensor. Although on the lower side as compared to some newer competitors, it is capable of delivering excellent image quality into a wide spectrum of photography ways. The sensor works well with the Olympus TruePic VII image processor, enhancing performance with accurate color reproduction and low noise levels and wide dynamic range.
Image Quality and Performance
The E-M10 Mark II yields sharp, detailed images and color saturation. The micro four-thirds sensor, although smaller than APS-C or full-frame sensors, performs very well in various lighting conditions. It brings out the finest details and truly translates color, thanks in part to Olympus’s advanced image processing algorithms.
The E-M10 Mark II has tremendous dynamic range, with its reasonable treatment of highlights and shadows; however, it does not reach the level of higher-resolution sensors. The low-light capabilities are also good, with image quality holding up quite nicely at higher ISO scenes. However, higher ISO levels would cause smaller sensors to produce more noise than larger ones.
Autofocus System
Autofocus Technology
The E-M10 Mark II offers a chiefly contrast-detecting autofocus system with 81 points, which, while pitifully outdated compared to phase-detecting systems on advanced cameras, guarantees a reasonable performance concerning focusing accuracy and reliability. Furthermore, it has face detection and eye detection, which help when focusing on subjects’ faces and eyes; hence, it can be considered good for portrait work.
Performance
In practical use, it locks focus on subjects quite well in several situations. It can quickly lock itself on to a subject while keeping focus in continuous shooting mode. The camera’s focus speed is good enough for most things, including portraits and landscapes to street photography, while it lacks speed and accuracy in fast-paced situations or when tracking on-the-move targets when compared to some new cameras with more sophisticated systems.
In-Body Image Stabilization
Stabilization Technology
The E-M10 Mark II boasts a particularly splendid feature; 5-axis in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This compensates the camera shake in 5 axis-pitch, yaw, roll, along with vertical and horizontal shifts. This IBIS system stabilizes against shakes due to a little hand-holding, in-the-demonstrations-audit, particularly aiding indoor results or low-light situations and using some slower shutter speeds.
Effectiveness
With its 5-axis IBIS system at work, the camera is stabilized to great effect for the sharpest pictures under most difficult conditions. Users can hold steady shots at slow shutter speeds, often forgoing a tripod. The stabilization system is a boon for video recording too, as it translates to smoother video and minimizes the effect of camera movement.
Viewfinder and LCD
Electronic Viewfinder
The E-M10 Mark II features a really good 2.36-million-dot electronic viewfinder. The EVF maintains a clear and reasonably detailed view of the scene with minimal latency and decently accurate color. Being an electronic viewfinder, it shows exposure settings, white balance, and other parameters in the actual scene, helping in the accurate composition of images.
LCD Screen
The 3-inch tilting touchscreen runs 1.04 million dots, and the tilt earns its keep — shooting from ground level or holding the camera over your head at a crowd stops being a guessing game. Menus respond fast enough that you’re not fighting the interface to change a setting mid-shoot. And the resolution’s sharp enough that you can trust what you see on the back screen instead of finding out later, at home, that half your shots were slightly out of focus.
Performance and Speed
Continuous shooting
The E-M10 Mark II features a continuous shooting rate of up to 8 frames per second (fps). This burst rate is perfectly suited for fast-moving subjects and any sort of action shots. It does an impressive job of continuous shooting as it allows the user to shoot a series of images with very little lag in between.
Turn-on Time and Shutter Lag
The startup is fairly fast, so users can grab that spontaneous moment right away. Shutter lag is minimal, with the camera responding in a timely fashion to any user input. Such promptness is required to freeze moments that pass quickly and to ensure a fine shot is not missed.
Video Functionality
Video Resolution
The E-M10 Mark II features high-definition video recording-1920 x 1080-in an astonishing 60 frames per second. Although lacking a 4K option, the clarity provided by its full HD video resolution is sufficient to produce a good quality video in most cases. Manual exposure adjustments on the camera allow for creative and precise video-recording.
Video Stabilization
Adding further insurance against camera shake during shooting is the digital stabilization system included with the E-M10 Mark II along with Olympus’s 5-axis in-body image stabilization system. The synergy of these stabilization systems will allow the camera to render an enhanced feeling of smoothness and steadiness in their final output.
Connectivity and Usability
Wireless Connectivity
The E-M10 Mark II has Wi-Fi built in, so getting photos onto your phone or laptop takes seconds instead of a card reader. Pair it with Olympus’s OI.Share app and you can control the camera from your phone handy if you want to actually be in the shot, or just don’t feel like crouching behind the viewfinder.
Menu System and Controls
Organization and informative clarity of options and settings characterize the menu system of the E-M10 Mark II. Physical controls include commands well-placed for easy access. Customizable command dials and function buttons also allow for tailoring commands to user style and preference.
Comparative Analysis
Panasonic Lumix GX85/GX80
The GX85 is Panasonic’s direct answer to the E-M10 Mark II same micro four-thirds sensor size, same compact body class, even the same 16 megapixels. Where it pulls ahead is stabilization: in-body and lens-based working together, which you’ll actually feel in handheld shots and especially video.
Video’s where these two really split: 4K on the GX85, Full HD on the E-M10, end of story. Throw in 4K Photo and you can yank 8-megapixel stills straight out of the footage handy for stuff like a kid blowing out birthday candles, when you’d otherwise be mashing the shutter and praying you caught the split second.
Fujifilm X-T20
24.3 megapixels, no in-body stabilization: on paper the X-T20 looks like a step down from the E-M10 Mark II. Then you actually shoot with it, and Fuji’s color science makes the spec sheet feel almost irrelevant. There’s 4K here too — the E-M10 Mark II tops out at 1080p and 14fps in electronic shutter mode is plenty unless you’re chasing professional sports.
Sony Alpha A6300
This is the one built for people who care about autofocus above almost everything else. 425 phase-detection points, and they actually hold onto a subject once they’ve found it. 4K video, 11fps burst shooting, a 24.2-megapixel sensor — the only real ding is no in-body stabilization, so you’re stabilizing through the lens instead. If you shoot video or fast-moving subjects regularly, that’s a trade most people would take.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
5Axis InBody VR: The IBIS gives an insurmountable edge to handheld shooting and video recording as it reduces the effects of camera shake.
More Compact and Lightweight: With a compact and lightweight design, for travel and everyday shooting, the camera strikes a solid balance between portability and performance.
Great Ergonomics: The thoughtful design of the hand grip and overall control layout ensures comfort over long periods, putting it easily at the operator’s service.
Electronic Viewfinder: High resolution EVF for a clear and detailed view of the scene, adding great precision to composition and adjustment of exposure settings in real time
Customizable: The customizable dials and function buttons on the camera allow users to set controls to fit their shooting needs, thus helping with efficiency and ease of use.
Wi-Fi: This offers an added advantage of easy image transfer and remote control through the OI.Share app. Extra convenience is provided during shooting.
Inferring Weak Points
Sensor Resolution: The 16-megapixel sensor of the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II should be more than adequate compared to some of its mirrorless and DSLR competitors, but it is on the low side for resolution. There may be a few who opt for the higher res for larger prints or detailed cropping.
Video Resolution: The absence of any 4K video capabilities might be a reason for some who need higher video resolution for professional or creative reasons: The Full HD video is good, but not good enough for users on the cutting edge of video technology.
Autofocus System: Contrast autofocus is good, but it does not come close to the sophistication and speed of phase detection systems in modern cameras. This limitation can affect performance in dynamic shooting situations.
Limited Lens Selection: The micro four-thirds system has quite a range of lenses, although possibly HECTIC in comparison with larger sensor formats like APS-C and full-frame. Fine-tuned specialist lenses or high-end lenses sought after by users may prove to be a small irritation regarding their selection.
Conclusion
All in all, the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II is a competent mirrorless camera that weds timeless design and cutting-edge technology. The 5-axis image stabilization, compactness, and ease of handling have made a worthy companion for the amateur and semi-professional alike. Despite the low-res sensors, the camera renders good image quality adequate for various photographic purposes.
The qualities that contribute to the strength of the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II stem from its stabilization system, simple controls, and light weight. It renders a smooth shooting experience and good images with colors that are fairly accurate. An electronic viewfinder and a tilting LCD screen further add to the user interface, allowing the camera to be versatile for different shooting scenarios.
But the camera is not without its weak points, including a lower resolution sensor and the absence of 4K capability. Autofocus is acceptable yet does not suit users who require a fast action-type focus availability. Although micro four-thirds have an enormous selection of lenses, it may not be as versatile as larger sensor formats.
In general, the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II is a strong contender in the mirrorless realm, especially for those who appreciate a mixture of time-tested designs and contemporary characteristics. For a photographer seeking a good compact, versatile camera that is easy to use, it stands as a good choice. Other options might be better served for users concerned with high-resolution shooting or advanced video capabilities within the mirrorless camera market. The E-M10 Mark II becomes an enticing and rewarding option thanks to its various features, performance, and design mix.
Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II Mirrorless Digital Camera with 14-42mm II R Lens (Silver): Buy it now
Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II Mirrorless Micro 4/3 Digital Camera with 14-42mm and 40-150mm Lenses (Black): Buy it now
Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera with 14-42mm II R Lens [Silver] & Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 R Lens [Silver]: Buy it now
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Tech Reviewer & Product Analyst
Định Bia has spent over 10 years testing consumer electronics with a focus on smart technology. He work as a product advisor at Biareview where he helped customers find the right devices for their needs. He personally tests every product featured on this site using a consistent evaluation framework covering quality, durability, and value. All reviews are based on experience, not influenced by the manufacturer.