Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-08-22)

42 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk

Olympus

OM-DE-M10II

BodyOnly

£199

from

excellentcondition

Olympus

OM-DE-M1II

BodyOnly

£759

from

excellentcondition

Testbench SECONDHAND CAMERAS

Smallprimes

complementOlympus’s

compactOM-Dbodies

reallynicely,allowingyou

to shootin lowlight

withouthavingto hikethe

ISOtoofar,andto

achievea degreeof

backgroundblur.The

17mmf/1.8is a

particularlynechoice

whenyouwantto travel

reallylightandwork

discreetly,asit weighsin

at just120g,while

measuringa mere36mm

in length.It stillnds

spacefortwoaspherical

elementsandonemade

fromhighrefractiveindex

(HR)glassto suppress

aberrations,alongwitha

fast,silentinternal-focus

mechanism.It evenhasa

snap-backfocusringfor

switchingto manual

focus,completewith

distanceanddepth-of-

eldscales.It’sperhaps

notthesharpestlens

Olympusmakes,butit’s

oneof thenicest.

OlympusLenses

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital

17mm F1.8

● £249

WHILE the future of Olympus’s imaging

business may be uncertain, there’s no

denying the quality of the cameras and

lenses that it’s made in the recent past.

The key promise of the Micro Four Thirds

system – small, high-performance

cameras and lenses – aligns perfectly

with what the company has always done

best, and arguably, no camera

represents that better than the OM-D

E-M5 Mark II. This compact, charismatic

SLR-style model sold for £900 body-only

when it launched in early 2015, but can

be bought for well under half that price

second-hand, even in as-new condition.

The E-M5 II’s main attractions remain

much the same as when it was new, as

few other cameras are this small, yet

fully featured and robust. It measures

just 123.7x85x44.5mm and weighs in

at 469g, yet sports a weather-sealed

magnesium-alloy body and a good range

of well-placed external controls. Its

2.36m-dot electronic view nder provides

a large, sharp view, while the fully

articulated rear touchscreen facilities

shooting at creative angles, in both

portrait and landscape formats.

Not surprisingly some of the core

speci cations now look a little dated,

particularly the 16MP Four-Thirds sensor

that technically can’t match larger

formats for raw image quality. Also as

the autofocus is based purely on

contrast detection, it’s really not happy

trying to track fast-moving subjects,

meaning this is far from the best choice

for shooting sports or action. Likewise

video is limited to Full HD at 60fps.

Small but fully featured
But in other respects, you get a whole
lot of camera for your money. Olympus’s
5-axis in-body stabilisation works with
every lens you can use, often allowing
you to shoot at slower shutter speeds
and hence lower ISOs, offsetting the
image-quality disadvantage of the
smaller sensor. There’s also a 40MP
high-resolution multi-shot mode,
although it requires the camera to be
set on a tripod and the subject to be
completely static, which limits its
ALL PRICES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF WRITING. FOR THE L ATEST DE ALS, CHECK WWW.PARKCAMERAS.COM usefulness. The mechanical shutter,

Olympus OM-D

E-M5 Mark II

It may seem odd to

recommend a standard

zoom that’s more

expensive than the

camera, but the 12-40mm

f/2.8 is quite simply the

perfect complement to the

E-M5 Mark II. Indeed,

more than any other lens

in Olympus’s line-up, aside

perhaps from the recently

launched 12-45mm f/4, it

best realises the concept

of the high-quality,

lightweight, weather-

sealed system. Optically

it’s fantastic, delivering

excellent image quality at

any focal length even

when shot wide open,

while also being capable

of superb close-ups

down to just 20cm, where

it delivers 0.6x equivalent

magni cation.

Operationally it boasts

a dual-mode focus ring

that can be snapped back

towards the camera to

engage manual focus,

revealing a distance scale

in the process. There’s

also a programmable

L.Fn button.

OLYMPUS

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED

1240mm F2.8 Pro

● £439

● £319