Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-02-22)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 22 February 2020 9

First impressions

Lightweight, high-

specstandardzoom

OLYMPUShasalso

revealeda compact,

lightweightpremium

standardzoom,in the

shapeof theM.Zuiko

DigitalED12-45mmF

PRO.Witha zoomrange

equivalentto24-90mm

onfull-frame,its

12-element,9-group

opticaldesignis saidtobe

derivedfromthehighly

regarded12-40mmf/2.

Pro,withaspherical

elementstominimise

aberrationsandZuiko

Extra-lowReflection

Optical(ZERO)coatingto

suppressflareand

ghosting.It’sclaimedtobe

theword’slightest

constant-aperturezoom,

at just 254g, and accepts

Price cuts for

E-M1 Mark II

ACCORDINGtoOlympus,theOM-DE-M1MarkIII

doesn’tdirectlyreplaceitspredecessor,andthetwo

willbesoldside-by-sidefortheimmediatefuture.

HowevertheMarkII willdropin recommendedretail

priceby£200tomakespace,to£1,300bodyonly

comparedtothecurrent£1,500.If thisis reflected

in thestreetprice,it couldseethecamerafall

beneaththe£1,000mark.Meanwhile the 12-40mm

F2.8PROlenskitdrops in price to

£2,000,compared

to £2,

previously,while

thedoublezoom

kitthataddsthe

4 0 -15 0 m m

F2.8PRO

telezoomwill

be £3,000.

autofocuspointscoveringmostof the
frame,allof whicharecross-type.
HoweverasontheE-M1X,userscan
nowdefinecustomAF-areagroupings,
notjustin termsof thenumberof points
used,butalsohowfinelythegroupscan
bemovedaroundtheframe.A new
StarrySkyAFmodepromisesaccurate
autofocusoneventhetiniest stars for
astrophotography.

Speedmerchant
TheE-M1MarkIII boaststhesame
blisteringspeedasitspredecessor,being
capableof shootingat 18framesper
secondwithcontinuousAF,or60fps
withfocusfixed,usingitselectronic
shutter.In itsProCapturemode,it can
continuouslybuffer 35 framesfromthe
momenttheshutterbuttonis half-
pressed,thenrecordthemtocardwhen
it’sfullydepressed,allowingusersto
recordfleeting,unpredictablemoments.
Evenwhenusingthemechanicalshutter,
it’llshootat about10fpswithC-AF.
Olympushasalsoplaceda strong
emphasisondurability.Thebodyis
comprehensivelyweather-sealed,with
IPX1certification,andcanbepaired
witha goodrangeof similarlyprotected
lenses.Theshutteris ratedto400,
cycles,whilethefirm’sSuperSonicWave
Filterhasproventoberemarkably
effective at keeping the sensor clean of

dust.DualSDcardslotsareincluded,

allowingfilestobebackedupon

importantshoots;howeveronlyoneis of

thehigh-speedUHS-IIstandard.

Oneof Olympus’smostnoteworthy

featuresis its5-axisin-bodyimage

stabilisation.Thankstotheuseof the

samegyrosensorastheE-M1X,thisis

claimedtobetheworld’smosteffective,

beingratedtoa barelybelievable7.

stopswiththefirm’sopticallystabilised

lenses,and7 stopswithotherlenses.As

a result,it shouldbepossibletoshoot

handheldat shutterspeedsthatwould

beimpossiblewithmostothersystems.

Turningourattentiontovideo,4K

recordingis availableat upto30fps,with

a newOM-Log400optionforeasier

colourgradingin post-production,aided

bya ViewAssistfunctionwhichdisplays

a standardcolourgamutonscreen.Both

headphoneandmicrophonesocketsare

built-in.BluetoothandWi-Ficonnectivity

supportsbothpairingwitha smartphone

ortablet,andwirelesstetheredshooting

froma computerrunningOlympus

Workspacesoftware.

TheOlympusOM-DE-M1MarkIII is

duetogoonsalein lateFebruary,with

itsbody-onlypriceof £1,600at launch

being£250lowerthanitspredecessor’s.

Pre-ordersplacedbefore 29 February

willreceivea complimentarycopyof

Capture One Pro 20, while stocks last.

THEE-M1MarkIII mayappeartobeevolutionratherthanrevolution,butdon’tlet
thesimilarityof itsspecsheettoitspredecessor’sfoolyou.I’vebeenshootingwith
onefora coupleof weeksbeforeitsofficialrelease,andit’sanastonishinglyfastand
exceptionallyrefinedcamera.Theadditionof a joystickforfocus-areaselection
elevatesit tooneof theverybesthandlingcamerasin itsclass.
Fullframemaybeflavourof themonthat themoment,buttheMicroFourThirds
systemoffersveryrealadvantagesof itsown,particularlyin termsof sizeandweight,
andespeciallyif youregularlyshootwithtelephotolenses.TheE-M1MarkIII
deliversthisbettertheneverbefore;indeedit’sarguablythecamerathat the E-M1X
should have been all along. Look out for our upcoming full review.

TheAFjoystickis

perfectlypositioned

foroperationby

your right thumb

58mmfilters.Measuring

63.4mmin diameterand

70mmin length,it looks

likeit couldbeanideal

companiontolastyear’s

compactE-M5MarkIII.

Liketherestof

Olympus’sProrange,the

12-45mmf/4benefits

fromdust-andsplash-

proofconstruction,with

sealingat ninepointsof the

barrel.Howeverone

concessioncomparedto

thelargerProzoomsis the

lackof a focusclutchfor

switchingtomanualfocus.

Theminimumfocus

distancerangesfrom

12cmat wideangleto

23cmat telephoto,giving

0.5xequivalent

magnificationacrossthe

entirezoomrange,which

shouldmakethe12-

45mmanintriguingoption

forclose-upshooting.On

thisnote,it’salso

compatiblewiththe

in-camerafocus-stacking

featurefoundontheE-M

MarkIII,E-M1X,E-M

MarkII, andE-M5MarkIII,

althoughthelatterthree

cameraswillneeda

firmwareupdate.Thelens

is duein theshopsin late

March for £599.

The12-45mmF4PRO

weighs a mere 245g