Olympus OM-D E-M1 Review : A Tough Travel Camera

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ClubSNAP has been passed a set of the new Olympus EM1 a week ago with the new 12-40 f2.8 zoom
First impressions are its great build quality and portability for travel

Technical Specs are available at Olympus' website here http://www.olympusimage.com.sg/products/dslr/em1/

This is a hands on narrative of how I have used the camera in Singapore, South Korea , Shanghai and Bali and to share images shot off this camera and lens combination AND how images shot in the Art and Postcard filters turned out

South Korea Autumn Colors

The hue and saturation can be custom controlled through Color Creator on the 2 top front dials quite easily
In this custom mode you are able to custom tweak the hue and saturation from Black and White through super vivid and everything in between
Love this feature

 

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There are a total of 12 Art Filters which allows you to shoot in pre-set of
Pop Art
Soft Focus
Pale & Light Color
Light Tone
Grainy Film
Pin Hole
Diorama
Cross Process
Gentle Sepia
Dramatic tone
Key Line
Watercolor

If you're a kiasu shooter like myself there is also a 13th filter which is called the Art Bracket which at one press of the shutter the camera will automatically turn out 12 exposures with 12 of the Art filter effects produced. Why is this great ?
1. You dont need a tripod to capture the exact same scene 12 times .... just handhold
2. You just hit the Art Bracket (Art Bkt) setting and it automatically turns out 12 art filtered images

Below Images were shot outside Cheongju at the Cheongnamdae Presidential Retreat area

Cross process

Diorama

Key Line

Soft Focus

Pin Hole

 

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Pale & Light Color

Light Tone

Grainy Film

Gentle Sepia

Cross Process

 

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Pop Art

Dramatic

 

[ed9119]

I must say.... Diorama mode art filter is really addictive ha ha

 

[ed9119]

continued this evening thanks

 

[keithwee]

the color creator using the 2 front dials really looks interesting , especially when its a fn limited to EM-1. Is it difficult/an hassle to do the adjustments while shooting?

 

[ed9119]

Without tweaking the colors out of camera seem accurate and with extremely little fringing

 

[ed9119]

The on-board tweaking of Hue and Saturation levels on-the-fly (via the 2 control dials on top next to the shutter button) without the need to take my off the viewfinder shown below in these 3 images

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[ed9119]

Reds

 

[ed9119]

C-AF continuous autofocus is quick and accurate

 

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sweet spot of the EM1 ..... almost no fringing in situations like these below
It came off backlit situations with flying colors

 

[ed9119]

I stopped off in Shanghai next for a few days and spent an afternoon shooting along the river behind the Oriental Pearl Tower ... this is a real oasis of tranquility within Pudong's financial district

Spent the time exploring the EM1's Postcard features..... just one word to describe this feature ...... TOTALLY FUN !

Words very hard to describe so let these images do the talking

You can shoot FIVE images in FIVE panels with results like this

 

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It also does this ..... lets you take 2 images like this.... complete with the date stamped in

 

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all these are now available in-camera

this one below shot in singapre

 

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so yeah.... love this postcard function

 

[ed9119]

Shanghai skyline of Puxi shot in Art Filter mode - Dramatic Tone

 

[ed9119]

In Bali, Indonesia today

Hi guys at Olympus, the EM1 took a beating at Kuta beach today with saltwater when I shot my daughter taking surfing lessons .... I ran the ENTIRE camera and 12-40 lens for a good 30 sec under the hotel's bathroom shower to get rid of an afternoon's worth of seawater and sand

So far, the battery's charging up just fine

Lets see if its still working tomorrow

 

[tomcat]

Let's hope you still have a working set to return to Olympus Singapore when you come back.

 

[tomboy87]

great review :thumbsup: