Digital Photographer - UK (2020-05)

FEATURES

Nothingfeelslikeit’slacking

here,andthenewfeaturesare

worthyofbeingadded

BUILDQUALITY

Theruggedmagnesiumalloy

bodyfeelsveryhardy.It’sdust,

splashandfreezeproof

QUALITYOFRESULTS

Everythingfeelssuperior,

fromthefasterautofocusto

improvedISOperformance

HANDLING

Thenewjoystickenablesquick

shiftingoftheAFarea,andthe

dedicatedISObuttonishandy

VALUEFORMONEY

It’saworthyupgradetothe

MarkII,whilethepricesits

competitivelybelowitsrivals

Megapixels

(effective)

20.4MP

Maxresolution

7,776x10,368

Sensor

information

FourThirds

LiveMOS

Processor

TruePicIX

Focus/macro

121 cross-type

on-chipphase

detection

Maxburst

60fps

ISOsensitivity

Lowto25,600

(ISO 200 base)

Exposure

modes

ESP,spot,

centreweighted,

highlight,shadow

Weight

504gbodyonly,

580gincluding

batteryand

memorycard

Storage

1xUHS-IISD

1xUHS-ISD

LCD

3-inchfully

articulating

touchscreen,

1.04milliondots

Viewfinder

Yes

There’sadefiniteboostin

termsofcoreperformance–

andthat’sbeforefactoringin

thewealthofall-newfeatures.

Thisprocameraisarealjoy

touseandshootwith.

Overall

IN-BUILTIMAGESTABILISATION

TheE-M1MarkIIIdelivers 7 stopsof

stabilisationasstandard,butwhen

pairedwithaSyncISProlensit

becomesanastonishing7.5stops.

HANDHELDHIGHRESSHOT

Onatripod,theHighResShot

functionenablesyoutorecordultra

high-res(approx. 80 MPequivalent)

RAWandJPEGfiles.

LIVECOMPOSITEMODE

It’spossibletokeeptheshutteropen

forsixhours–doublingthethree-

hourmaximumoftheMarkII–to

capturestarryskiesandlighttrails.

DUSTREDUCTION

AnimprovedSupersonicWave

Filter(SSWF)reducessensordust

byafactorof 10 – ahardwareboost

broughtfromtheOlympusE-M1X.

FACEDETECTAF

Thistrackingfeaturefeelsmore

‘sticky’;evenwhenyoursubjectsturn

theirface,theAFisabletokeeptrack

ofandfocusonthesidesoffaces.

USBCHARGING

ChargingviaUSBcableissupported,

andapowerbankcanbeusedtokeep

thecamerarunningasyoushoot.A

fullbatterychargetakesjusttwohours.

FEATURES

SUPERSONICWAVEFILTER

tunedscanoptionfortelephotolensesanda

stabilisationmodeforhandheldastroshots).

TheE-M1MarkIIIcarriesoverother

signaturefeaturesfromtheE-M1X,such

as80MPHighResShotfortripod-based

photography, 7 stopsofimagestabilisation

(7.5withOlympusSyncISlenses)acustomAF

targetmodetocreatebespokefocusclusters,

newAFtargetmodesforstillsandvideo,4K/

C4Kcaptureupto30fps,andabespoke

imagestabilisationmodethatmightjustmake

youthrowawayyourgimbal.

Italsoboastsfamiliarflagshipfeatureslike

60fpsburstshootingwithfocuslockedand

18fpswithfullAF/AEtracking,1080pvideoat

upto120fps,in-bodyfocusstackingandfocus

bracketing,andclass-leadingweathersealing.

Speakingofbuild,theOlympusOM-DE-M1

MarkIIIisidenticalinsizetotheMarkII,and

onlyheavierby6g.Whiletheergonomics

areverysimilar,thereisonekeydifference:

liketheE-M1X,thecameranowhasaMulti

Selector–ajoystick,toyouandme.

UpuntiltheE-M1X,Olympusbodiesrelied

oneithertheD-padortouchanddragusing

therearLCDscreentomanoeuvrefocus

pointsaround.However,D-padsarefinicky

forfastmovementandtrickytouseincold

weather,sotheadditionofajoystickisavery

welcomeone,especiallyforshootingfast

actionorsports.Toaccommodatethejoystick,

theINFObuttonnowsitswhereMENUwas.

MENUisnowontheleftofthecamerarear.

Anotherusefuladditionportedoverfrom

theE-M1XisadedicatedISObutton,which

displacestheFn1buttononthebackofthe

MarkII.AswiththeE-M1X,theBulbfunction

hasbeenaddedtothemodedial,givingdirect

accesstoOlympus’sbrilliantLiveComposite,

LiveBulbandLiveTimemodesforlight

paintingandstartrails–anodtowardsthe

proastrophotographersOlympusistargeting.

TheOlympusOM-DE-M1MarkIIIperforms

verymuchonparwiththeOlympusOM-D

E-M1Xinmostareas–whichisunsurprising,

giventhatit’srunningmanyofthesame

algorithms.However,handheld50MPpixel-

shiftimagesaremoreconsistent,andFocus

Stacking/Bracketingautofocusandaccuracy

feelsbetter.Itconfidentlyoutperforms

theOlympusOM-DE-M1MarkII,asyou

wouldhope.Thein-bodyimagestabilisation

isotherworldly.Bearinginmindthe2x

cropfactor,you’reabletoshoothandheld

imagesat600mm–makingthecameraa

powerhouseforwildlife,generalhandheld

shootingandinlowlight.

ProCapturemoderemainsoneofour

favouritefeaturesinthecameraindustry–

andit’ssomethingthatnoteventheSony

A9IIorCanonEOS-1DXMarkIIIarecapable

of.ProCapturerecords 35 frameswhenyou

half-presstheshutterandupto 120 frames

(anewimprovement)afteryou’vepressedit–

meaningthat,ifyou’reslowonthedraw,you

nevermissacriticalmoment.

Rightnow,we’reimpressedwiththe

OlympusOM-DE-M1MarkIII,butwe’dliketo

testitonsportsandfastaction.TheE-M1X

provedthatthistechcantrackfast-moving

subjects,andifthesameistruefortheE-M1

MarkIII,itcouldbeanabsolutewinner.

Right

Easy access

The Bulb function has

been added to the mode

dial, and a dedicated ISO

button now sits on the

right above the

rear thumb grip

Below
Joystick joy
The Mark III is identical
in size to the Mark II,
but the latest iteration
has a Multi Selector to
shift quickly between
AF points

Olympus OM-D

E-M1 Mark III