OM SYSTEM Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Camera Body Only, (Black)

Having used the EM1.2 for a while, I write down my first impressions, related to Olympus EM10.2, from my feeling experience rather than a scientific view. I get raw images to be processed later with RawTherapee and do not make movies.Note:I know this is nothing new but an end user experience with a still perfectly capable camera... and may help you if you are thinking to move on to an EM1.3 or EM5.3.Ergonomically, is a delight to use. It is more comfortable than EM10.2 in hand, especially with large lenses like 75-300mm. Has many extra buttons, all configurable so all handy options are at a button press far (FN1 = Manual Focus, FN2 = Multi Function with ISO, Front Top Button at left = peaking, Front Bottom Button at left = zoom, etc.). AEL/AFL is more handy to be configured as Back Button Focus (BBF) but I think I'll stick to shutter button because I have the feeling that my hit rate is higher having auto focus there.Front dial on EM10.2 is more comfortable, being the EM1.2 front dial smaller (and rear too). But I'll get used to it, no doubt; I guess it is smaller because it's located on grip instead of body.Weight, almost the same feeling, minimum perceptible extra 180g. Battery life, lasts a little longer. Noise and dynamic range, looks a little better when stretching shadows. Auto focus, see no difference with good light (according to EM1.2 advertising, C-AF mode is PDAF only and S-AF mode is hybrid: PDAF + CDAF).Stabilization, no perceptible difference to me. Over 100mm I haven't found a reliable standing position and breath technique while pressing the shutter so I still adhere to the 1/focal_length speed rule with m43 and 2x crop factor. Below 100mm, I can relax the rule significantly on both cameras as much as 1/2s with 25mm.Menu System is the same as EM10.2. No change here but with some extra options; same complexity but functional. Super Control Panel the same ;-)Shutter feels more silent or quiet; don't know if it is different or a compact metal housing absorbs shutter shock more efficiently.I see a difference with EVF (being LCD instead OLED), liking more OLED in low light situations. I set to OFF 'View Boost - Manual' in order to EVF resemble exposure and WB at first sight. Letting View Boost ON (e.g. when flash is used) in both cameras, they look the same. In good light situations, both OFF, behave similar or equal.Now, pictures aren't worse than with EM10.2... to my relief ;-). But I must say I have the feeling that at pixel level (being myself a pixel peeper) they are softer, using same lens and being both CDAF in S-AF mode. Looking at pictures from both cameras at the same size, they look equal to me so I guess that having the EM1.2 25% more pixels (20MP against 16MP) is less forgiving with motion blur at pixel level. Or perhaps I'm reaching lens capability with this resolution. Tested with several lenses got almost same result. A Pro lens would make a difference?Adding a sharpness notch at post-process solves the situation (fortunately, just a little without producing artifacts or halos).I don't make large prints so I guess I wouldn't take advantage from the resolution increment.C-AF with PDAF, no chances to test it yet. I find this a useful feature because I do some BIF pictures. CDAF does not behave well in this area but I found a technique with EM10.2 that helps.Update: had a chance to try it, and behaves very well and have many pictures in focus where to choose from. Does not hunt and locks focus very fast. C-AF works fine following the subject with a good contrast area and a proper AF target mode.A weather sealed body would make me feel more relaxed in rough environments. Sometimes, I left my EM10 in the bag when faced rough weather - now I know it can handle it but I'm not sure I'll take the camera off the bag :-). Anyway, I own only one weather sealed lens.Both cameras can do focus bracketing. EM1.2 has the ability to produce a stacked jpeg using then internal engine (some lenses only). As I use raw, I post-edit them outside camera and later stack them with Zerene Stacker.As I said before, I still think EM1.2 is an EM10.2 in a better and comfortable weather sealed housing, adding auto focus PDAF, a little more dynamic range and less noise, an extra stabilization stop, two cards slots and a fully articulating monitor screen (plus a high speed sequential shooting and facilities related to continuous/tracking auto focus - that would be of great relevance in action events).All these extra attributes make EM1.2 even better than my highly regarded EM10.2 ;-)

This is not a formal review but comments about this camera from my own perspective and needs. Each person has their own wants and needs for what they want to do with a camera and how they want to do it. So first up about me... I can shoot what I want when I want, and although I sell my work it hardly pays for itself. I usually don't know what I want to shoot so I like to use a walkaround lens that can cover most of what I might want to shoot. I don't like lens changing so I often walk around with two cameras, either different type (maybe IR) or different lense types (e.g., long zoom and walkaround). I hate tripods. I don't do sports photography. I will not buy old-style DSLR cameras -- I love electronic viewfinders and hate flipping mirrors.My cameras before I bought this one were Olympus OMD EM-5, Sony A77, Panasonic G1 converted to infrared. I didn't "need" a camera but was looking. I don't want full frame (lens size, weight, and cost). Sony has recently spent most of their efforts on full frame and so far I don't like their crop sensor cameras plus I'd have to buy all new lenses for any new Sony camera. I was more and more using the Olympus day to day. It is lighter than the Sony and did what I wanted to do.In an idea world, what would I want? low noise and image stabilization. Partly because I hate tripods but also because there are lots of places you either can't take tripods or they would not be convenient or welcome. I talk about monopods and have one but I don't use that either very much...I also like features and customization. Also weather sealing and sturdiness are nice because I don't baby my cameras...This is not a formal review but comments about this camera from my own perspective and needs. There are lots of formal reviews available now and you can read the specs yourself.I love this camera primarily because of its marvelous image stabilization. I can hold at least 2 seconds with this camera. I've taken photos that I absoutely could not take without a tripod with my other cameras (Sony A77 and Olympus OMD EM-5). Also the noise levels are lower than the other cameras and the noise is easier to handle in noise reduction programs. This will allow me to shoot at higher ISO than I have previously felt comfortable with using.I like the feel of it. It has a better grip than the EM-5. Yes it is larger and heavier, but well, you can't have everything in one camera. I like customization and this camera is excellent for that. Many buttons can be set to whatever you want. All you have to do is remember what you did... It also has three custom modes which you can set and put on the mode dial. (That is one less than the EM-1 Mark I.)There are a couple of things I am disappointed in. One is the loss of scene mode. Apparently Olympus claims this is a "professional" camera and no professional would use scene modes. However, professionals will use ART modes? They have them already programmed because they are in the EM-1 Mark I and my EM5 and they could be an option for the ART mode dial position since they are out of dial space. Why do I care? Primarily for the multi-shot functions such as panorama and night shots. I do use both of those on my Sony.It does have autoHDR but it is limited to ISO 200 (you can set the ISO for Sony's autoHDR). Admittedly you can get away with a lot with this camera because of its marvelous IS. I was experimenting with various things in a church and selected autoHDR and pressed the button. As soon as I did I realized I was in trouble because of the slowness of the clicking. So I was very pleasantly surprised when I got home that it came out fine despite the long shutter speeds. And I wasn't even particularly trying to stabilize myself at the time because I had no idea that setting would not choose a suitable ISO.If you want to take multiple shots for HDR in post, options are very easy to get to with the standard button assignments.I love to watch and photograph birds but have not been serious about it because of the required equipment (weight, price, size, required tripod). I may now try harder with birds with this camera. Especially using the new "pro capture" mode. In this mode the camera starts buffering images when you half-press the shutter. When you press the shutter fully it saves the last ones it stored plus starts taking more if you keep pressing the shutter. Much better chance to get just what you want, rather than what happened after...I've not yet tried focus bracketing but I can see that could be very useful to me in landscape photograhy. It also supports focus stacking ( combined in the camera) but I don't currently have a lens supported for this feature. I have not tried the high res mode except to see if it worked...The price? You have to decide for yourself. I'm very pleased with my purchase.