Olympus OM-D E-M1 User Touch and Try Event - All You Need to Know about the new OM-D

I has been waiting for this moment very long. Back to 2 years ago, I made my decision to back to Olympus after owning a Nikon DSLR. Reason being are the size, weight and also quick auto focus performance delivered by Olympus E-P3. Why I said decided back to Olympus? My first compact ever in my life are Olympus Olympus Camedia C-170 and later my dad decided to get me another slim camera, Olympus FE-230. Not too long before I sold my Nikon DSLR for Olympus, I actually owned a Olympus XZ-1 too. Never regret my decision to own E-P3 :)

Of course, I been waiting for this moment for very long. Waiting for the moment micro four third to be matured. Waiting for the moment my heart started to scream "I NEED A NEW CAMERA!!!" Olympus OM-D E-M1 is the answer for my wait. Here quick key specification of Olympus OM-D E-M1.

• 16.3 megapixels
• Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) CMOS Sensor
• TruePIC VII imaging processor
• ISO 100-25600 in 1/3EV or 1EV increments
• '5-axis' IS
• 81 Number of focus points
• 3″ Tilting 1,037,000 dot LCD
• Electronic Viewfinder with 2,360,000 resolution
• 1920 x 1080 (30 fps), 1280 x 720 (30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps)
• Built-in wireless
• Dust, splash, freeze resistant
• BLN-1 lithium-ion
• 130 x 94 x 63 mm
• 497 grams
• Price :           RM 4,999 (Body only)
• RM 5,999 (Body and M.ZUIKO Digital ED 12-50mm kit)
• RM 7,599 (Body and M.ZUIKO Digital ED 12-40mm F2.8 PRO kit)
• Pre-order link : http://eshop.olympusimage.com.my/new-arrival.html

What's make me said that micro four third has matured? It is because of the new OM-D built quality, image quality, cameras performance and features in the camera itself.

* Robin as presenter of the day *

What's make a camera can delivered a high image quality? It is none other than Lens, Sensor and also Imaging Processing. What if I said Olympus done a good job on this three factors in OM-D E-M1 to delivered your desire high image quality?

• Zuiko Lens system : Olympus has both four third & micro four third lenses. You may check all their primes in micro four third and high grade/super high grade lens delivered stunning images.
• New 16M Live Mos Sensor : It is newer sensor than the 1 in Olympus OM-D E-M5 or E-P5! It perform better of course. Not to mentioned, AA filter has been removed.
• New TruePic VII Image Processing Engine : Featuring new "Fine Detail II" processing on jpeg. The new Fine Detail II able to correct color aberration (CA) and correction of contour line sharpness.

Here are additional features that made Olympus OM-D E-M1 deserved to be PRO category camera :

Large Electronic Viewfinder : 1.48x viewfinder magnification comparable to full size camera. It has high resolution of 2.36million dots. The display time lag is almost zero and featured adaptive brightness where it automatically adjust the brightness of the viewfinder backlight accordingly.

Creative Control : Come with four operation - Color Creator, Highlight & Shadow Control, Aspect Control and Magnified Display Control. Any changes using the creative control will be live display on the viewfinder or live view immediately.

LV dynamic range extension : HDR Live View Display

Dual Fast AF : Olympus still claiming the title as world fastest auto focus camera with single focus thanks to the contrast detection in the sensor. Now, the OM-D E-M1 come with Phase detection as well which allowed existing user to mount their favourite four third lens with adapter on the body and the AF will perform very fast. It is like marriage of two system! The new Dual Fast AF also makes possible a sequential shooting speed under C-AF of about 6.5 fps.

5-axis Image Stabilization : It is first introduced in Olympus E-M5 and later improved in E-P5. But now, it has even improved further more than the E-P5.

Durability & Rugged : The OM-D E-M1 is dust/splash proof and freeze resistance (as low as -10 Celcius). Not to mentioned it is built fully Magnesium Alloy.

Built-in Wi-Fi : Easy sharing to social network or use tablet/smartphone as remote control.

Others : Olympus OM-D E-M1 also features 12 arts filter, photo story and also enchanted time lapse that can be found in Olympus E-P5.

Of course, some of you might said what I written about the spec and features is just on the paper. If you wish to know how's OM-D E-M1 perform in real life shooting, feel free check out at Ming Thein and Robin Wong blog.

Alright now back to the event, we are given chance to test and hands on the Olympus OM-D E-M1 ourself. We are given two shooting session, one is with moving model to test out the C-AF reliability and another with model sitting still but we shoot with four third lens to test out the fast AF thanks to the Phase Detection. I can happy die coz I managed to play with 14-35mm f2 lenses during the test. One of the Super High Grade lens in Zuiko family!! It is damn sharp even on wide open!!

Overall, it is nice to be able to attend the Olympus Touch & Try event. Nice seeing Robin again. Wish to able to go out shooting with him again soon! Now, I gotta sell my kidney to get Olympus OM-D E-M1 and paired with my favorite 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 II lens!