44 11 April 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
possibletocreatea
focus-stackedcomposite
imagein-camera.A sophisticated
intervalometercomescomplete
withtheoptionof generating4K
30ptimelapsevideosinternally.
Severalfeaturesareexclusive to
Olympus,includingthe
aforementionedLiveND;
in-cameracorrectionof
perspectivedistortion,previewed
livein theviewfinder;anda Starry
SkyAFmodewhichis capableof
autofocusingonstarsfor
astrophotography.Youalsoget
Olympus’suniquelyusefulLive
Bulb,LiveTimeandLive
Compositemodes,whichtakethe
guessworkoutof longexposures
byallowingyoutowatchtheimage
buildupwhiletheshutteris open.
Turningourattentiontovideo,
4Krecordingis availableat upto
30fps,whileFullHDcanbe
capturedat upto120fps.A new
OM-Log400optionenables
easiercolourgradingin post-
production,aidedbya ViewAssist
functionthatdisplaysa standard
BT.709colourgamutonscreen.
Bothheadphoneandmicrophone
socketsarebuilt-in.
BluetoothandWi-Fi
connectivitysupportsbothpairing
witha smartphoneortabletvia
thefreeOlympusImageShare
app,andwirelesstethered
shootingfroma computerrunning
Olympus Workspace software.
In-camerarawconversionallows
youtoedityourimagesbefore
sharingthemviayourphone.One
minorirritationis that,despitethe
additionof analways-on
BluetoothLEconnection,the
app’ssimpleshutterreleasestill
reliesonWi-Fi,whichtakesmuch
longertofireupandconnect.Buildandhandling
Externally,theE-M1MarkIII is
extremelysimilartoits
predecessor.It’sanSLR-shaped
camerawitha fullyarticulating
screenanda tall,sculpted
handgripthatmakesit
exceptionallycomfortabletohold
anduse.Practicallyeveryavailable
surfaceis coveredin controls,
givingdirectaccesstoallthemost
importantsettings.ThenewAF
areajoystickcountsasa very
welcomeaddition;it displacesthe
Infobuttontobelowthed-padon
theback,whichhastheknock-on
effectof movingthemenubutton
acrosstotheleftshoulder.
Asidefromthat,buttons,dials
andswitchesarefoundin allthe
sameplaces,althougha fewhave
changedtheirfunctionstomore
closelymeettheexpectationsof
seriousphotographers.Thebutton
behindtheshutterreleaseis now
earmarkedforexposure
compensation,whilethatonthe
rightshoulderis givenovertoISO,
as on the recent E-M5 Mark III.Theseupdatesmeanthatthe
camerahandlesbrilliantlyoutof
thebox,withprettymuch
everythingyouneedat your
fingertips.A newstatusdisplay
showsallthekeysettingsclearlyat
a glanceontheLCD,butsadly
can’tbeusedtoselectandchange
them– youhavetousethefar
morecomplexSuperControl
Panelinstead.
ThisbeingOlympus,practically
allthecontrolscanbere-
configuredaccordingtoyour
personalpreferences.I swapped
thefunctionsof thetwoelectronic
dialsthatareusedforchanging
exposuresettings,andsetthe
moviebuttontoaccessmagnified
viewwhenshootingstills,but
that’sall.Fourcustomcamera
set-upsforspecificshooting
situationscanbesavedtotheC
positionsonthemodedial;I’duse
oneforshootingfastaction,and
anotherforworkingwithmanual-
focuslenses.Onereallyneat
touchis thatyoucanspecify
whetherornoteachC mode
shouldrememberanychanges
youmakewhileusingit, sothatthe
cameradoesn’treverttothe
previously saved set-up wheneveryouturnit offandbackonagain.
Olympushasalsoplaceda
strongemphasisondurability.The
shutteris ratedto400,000
cycles,matchingtheE-M1Xand
doublethatof theMarkII. The
bodyis comprehensivelyweather-
sealed,withIPX1certification,and
canbepairedwitha widerangeof
similarlyprotected,high-quality
lensesfrombothOlympusand
Panasonic.I usedit in somepretty
heavyrainduringthecourseof
testing,whichit shruggedoffasno
morethana mildinconvenience.
Largebuttonsanddialsmakethe
cameraperfectlyeasytooperate
whenyou’rewearinggloves.
OneareawhereOlympuslags
behindsomeotherbrandscomes
withregardstothetouchscreen,
whichoffersrelativelylimited
functions.It canbeusedtobrowse
imagesduringplayback,to
repositionthefocuspointwhen
you’reshooting,andselect
settingsontheonscreen
super-controlpanel.Butyoucan’t
useit tonavigatethemenuor
changemostsettings– instead
youhavetousethejoystickor
d-pad.Themenuis alsoasvast
and dense as ever, but mercifullyWiththesuperb300mm
F4,theEM1IIIbecomesa
greatlightweightoption
forwildlifephotography
Olympus300mmF4ISPro,
1/2000sec at f/4, ISO 320
‘Thecamerahandlesbrilliantlyoutofthebox,withprettymucheverythingyou need at your fingertips’