In summary
The OM-1 Mark II isargeted mainly at outdoor photographers – specifically those involved in shooting sports and wildlife, photojournalists and run-and-gun videographers who record footage for professional use.
The improvements in subject detection AF and IBIS will be of interest to birders and wildlife photographers. This will be especially true for those who also purchase the new M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-600mm f/5-6.3 IS lens for use with the camera. The OM-1 II is also one of the most customisable cameras available and can provide time savings in situations where it’s easy to miss a shot, such as birds in flight.
Landscape photographers and travellers who prefer minimal gear sets will benefit from not having to carry graduated ND filters. The extra half-stop of Live ND will also give them more flexibility in situations with wide brightness ranges.
The OM-1 Mark II camera is a delight to use and its improved functionality will certainly be beneficial for many photographers.
Full review
Superficially, the second-generation OM-1 camera, which was unveiled on 30 January, 2024, doesn’t look all that different from its predecessor – apart from the branding label on the EVF housing in which ‘OLYMPUS’ has been replaced with ‘OM SYSTEM’. The body of the camera is essentially unchanged and retains the IP53-class splash and dustproof design of the original OM-1. Also unchanged are the 3-inch vari-angle LCD monitor and 5.76 million dot OLED EVF. Improvements have been made to the finger grips on dial surfaces, which are now elastomer coated and the Super Control Panel is now quicker and easier to operate. The camera’s price has also increased by $500.
Angled view of the OM-1 Mark II camera with the 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens, which offers the same level of weather resistance. (Source: OM Digital Solutions.)
The main updates are internal, although the new camera retains the stacked, back-side illuminated (BSI) sensor with its effective resolution remaining at 20.4 megapixels. The TruePic X Dual Quad Core processor is also unchanged, as has the Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction system. Other unchanged features are the BLX-1 battery, which is rated for 500 shots per charge or 90 minutes of movie recording.
What’s New?
A key addition is the new Live GND (Graduated ND) in-camera graduated neutral density filter, which makes it easy to replicate the effects of a half ND filter for controlling brightness levels within the image. The setting is located on the first page of the Computational modes sub-menu, where it can be turned on or off.
In a sub-menu, photographers can select the filtration level between ND2 (one stop) and ND128 (7 stops) and choose the type of transition from three options: Soft, Medium or Hard. They can also decide whether the camera rotates the angle of the graduation boundary when its orientation is changed between portrait and landscape.
All subsequent adjustments are made in real time through the EVF or rear LCD. Pressing the Info button displays a half-black icon on the Live GND shooting screen, which indicates which side of the filter will be dark.
You can use the front and rear dials to change the angle of the filter, the front dial in increments of 15 degrees and the rear dial in one degree increments. Pressing the OK button resets the filter angle. We’ve provided some examples of the use of Live GND in the Samples section of this review. As with other computational modes, it restricts the use of some camera settings, with details laid out in the user manual.
The 5-axis in-body image stabilisation claims half a stop of improvement in shake correction, with up to 8.5 steps achievable with the body alone, a small advantage over the OM-1. Additional stabilisation is provided through 5-axis sync IS with compatible lenses.
Improvements have also been made to autofocusing, mainly through enhanced AI Subject Detection, which makes it easier to selectively focus on a single subject. While the hybrid PD/CD High-speed imager AF system still uses 1053 detection points, deep learning technologies allow faster, more accurate recognition of human and animal subjects (with specific settings for birds, dogs and cats) as well as land vehicles, airplanes and helicopters. The system also integrates seamlessly with the existing Face Priority/Eye Priority AF functions.
Raw file shooting for stills is now supported at 14-bit depth, including for the 50-megapixel Handheld High Res Shot and 80-megapixel Tripod High Res Shot modes. Sequential shooting has been improved, enabling the camera to support blackout-free, silent sequential shooting (SH2) with AF/AE tracking at up to 50 fps or with focus and exposure locked on the first frame at up to 120 fps, including with the Pro Capture mode. New 12.5 fps and 16 fps modes have been added to the existing 25-120 fps settings to provide more choices when shooting static subjects.
The buffer memory has been enlarged to accommodate approximately 219 frames in JPEG format or 213 frames in ORF.RAW format when shooting at approximately 120 fps, more than double the OM-1’s approximately 92 frames each. Approximately 99 frames can be pre-recorded in the Pro Capture mode, up from 70 in the OM-1.
Video capabilities appear to be unchanged, although vertical video capture is now available for posting to social media platforms and similar applications. Like its predecessor, the OM-1 II can record C4K and UHD 4K movies at up to 60 fps with H.264 and H.265 compression. It also offers Log and HLG modes, flat colour and 12-bit RAW video output in Apple ProRes RAW to external devices.
However, the new camera now supports UVC (USB Video Class) / UAC (USB Audio Class) connection to a PC, allowing seamless webcam use. A few commentators have claimed that most of the improvements could have been applied to the existing OM-1 via firmware updates – although that’s not the case with the buffer memory expansion and rubberised control wheels.
Who’s it for?
Like its predecessor, the OM-1 Mark II is targeted mainly at outdoor photographers – specifically those involved in shooting sports and wildlife, photojournalists and run-and-gun videographers who record footage for professional use. Whether it’s worth upgrading will depend on what the camera will be used for.
For birders and wildlife photographers the improvements will probably worthwhile, simply for the improvements in subject detection AF and IBIS. This will be especially true for those who also purchase the new M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-600mm f/5-6.3 IS lens for use with the camera, which will be reviewed separately.
Landscape photographers and travellers who prefer minimal gear sets will benefit from not having to carry graduated ND filters. The extra half-stop of Live ND will also give them more flexibility in situations with wide brightness ranges. The OM-1 II is also one of the most customisable cameras available and can provide time savings in situations where it’s all too easy to miss a shot, such as when photographing birds in flight.
Playback and software
Playback functions are largely unchanged but OM Digital Solutions has updated three of the software applications. Version 2.3 of the Olympus Workspace image editing software offers advanced processing and editing capabilities in the form of new USB RAW Data Edit features like tone curve adjustments and dehazing plus an AI Noise Reduction function specifically designed for processing raw files from the new camera.
Version 3.1 of OM Capture camera control software offers seamless image transfer via Wi-Fi, including within the 5 GHz band plus power supply via USB while controlling the camera. The OM Image Share smartphone app (OI.Share), which establishes a Wi-Fi connection to the camera, can now be used to update the firmware on the camera body and also allows users to back up and restore camera settings.
Performance
We tested the OM-1 II with the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO lens, a tried-and-proven high-performer, which we reviewed back in November 2016, and also with the new M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4-5.6 II lens, which is reviewed separately. Out of interest, we also carried out our regular tests of ISO sensitivity, white balance and response times and also evaluated autofocusing and video performance.
Our Imatest tests delivered similar results for the the review camera to the results we obtained from our tests on the OM-1. This isn’t surprising since the sensor and image processor haven’t changed in essence with the new camera.
When comparing the results of our tests across the ISO range we found a significant improvement in the results for raw files up to ISO 1600, although JPEG results were largely unchanged. The graph below shows the results of our Imatest tests across the camera’s sensitivity range.
With long-exposure and high ISO noise reduction enabled, long exposures were effectively noise-free up to ISO 25600, a two stop increase on the OM-1’s performance in this area. Both noise and edge softening became increasingly visible in JPEGs across the rest of the sensitivity range and shadows began to block up in JPEGs at ISO 51200.
At the highest ISO setting, JPEGs were quite contrasty and noise-affected but not as badly as the ORF.RAW files we took at the same ISO value and converted into 16-bit TIFF format with noise reduction disabled, which were obviously granulated. Interestingly, colour accuracy and saturation were well preserved at this setting in the raw files, although not so well in the JPEGs.
In contrast, we found white balance performance in the sample camera to be better than previous OM-D cameras we’ve tested. The normal Auto setting, which prioritises whites, came close to producing neutral colours under incandescent, fluorescent and warm-toned LED lighting. As expected, a slight warm cast remained in shots taken under incandescent lighting and when the ‘Keep warm colour’ setting was used.
There’s no pre-set for LED lighting so we could only test the tungsten and fluorescent pre-sets, the former of which came close to neutral colour rendition but was slightly ‘cool’, while the latter added a tint between magenta and purple. Like most modern cameras, the OM-1 provides plenty of adjustments to overcome such biases, including four ‘One-touch’ settings that set colour to a value metered on a white object under the lighting in use. There’s also a Custom mode for selecting a known colour temperature and Kelvin adjustments between 2000K and 14000K.
Video quality was similar to the clips we shot with the OM-1 camera, even though the conditions were quite different. Autofocusing was somewhat better and the lens was able to lock onto subjects quickly and accurately and also track subjects consistently and effectively.
The revised stabilisation system worked equally well for hand-held shooting and recording video clips. Auto exposure adjustments were also fast when zooming and/or panning, once focus was acquired – and this was improved with the updates to AF subject detection. Audio quality was good for the internal microphones and the ability to add external microphones would be useful if better quality was desired.
Our timing tests were carried out with two 32GB SDHC II U3 memory cards (one Lexar and one SanDisk), which claim 300 MB/s read/write speeds. The review camera took roughly half a second to power-up, which is perceptibly faster than average.
Capture lag was effectively negligible when the shutter button was used to capture the shot and averaged 0.1 second when the shot was captured by touching the monitor screen. Shot-to-shot times averaged 0.3 seconds.
Like its predecessor, the OM-1 II only indicates processing is occurring with a small orange dot in the top left corner of the monitor. Using it we found image processing speeds were too fast to measure when recording individual JPEG or ORF.RAW files, although it was usable for measuring burst processing times.
With the SH1 high-speed sequential shooting mode set at 120 fps, we recorded a burst of 163 Large/ Super Fine JPEGs in 9.7 seconds without hesitating. This equates to a frame rate of 16.8 fps, which is significantly slower than specified for the setting, probably because the card was unable to support the maximum frame rate. Processing was completed within 8.3 seconds of the last frame captured.
A similar number of frames were recorded with ORF.RAW files in a period of 9.9 seconds, yielding a frame rate of 16.5 fps, which was slightly slower than for JPEGs. It took 15.3 seconds to clear the buffer memory.
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SPECS
Image sensor: 17.4 x 13.0 mm Stacked BSI Live MOS sensor with 22.9 million photosites ( 20.4 megapixels effective); Quad Pixel Bayer Pattern
Image processor: TruePic X
Lens mount: Micro Four Thirds
Focal length crop factor: 2x
Digital zoom: Yes; 2x for stills, 1.4x for movies
Image formats: Stills: JPEG (DCF Ver. 2.0, Exif Ver. 2.31), ORF.RAW (12-bit lossless compression), RAW+JPEG; Movies: MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/ H.264 and HEVC/H.265 10-bit video)
Audio: Wave Format (Stereo linear PCM/16-bit, Sampling frequency 48kHz)
Image Sizes: Stills: 5184 x 3888 to 1024 x 768 pixels; Movies: 4096 x 2160 and 3840 x 2160 at 30/25/24p and 60/50p with Long GOP compression; 1920 x 1080 at 30/25/24p and 60/50p with ALL-I compression; Quick and Slow movie settings available
Aspect ratios: 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, 1:1, 3:4
Image Stabilisation: Built-in 5-axis sensor-shift IS, 7.0 EV shake correction (up to 8 EV with Sync IS in stabilised lenses
Dust removal: Supersonic Wave Filter
Shutter (speed range): Focal plane mechanical shutter; CIPA rated for 400,000 cycles (60-1/8000 seconds plus Live Bulb, Live Time and Live Composite; Electronic shutter: 60 to 1/32,000 second in silent shutter mode
Exposure Compensation: +/-5 EV in 1/3, ½ or 1EV steps (+/-3 EV in Live View)
Exposure bracketing: 2, 3 or 5 frames (0.3/0.7/1.0EV steps selectable), 7 frames (0.3/0.7EV steps selectable)
Other bracketing options: ISO, WB, flash, Art Filters, focus (3 to 99 frames with 1-10 steps selectable); focus stacking supported
Self-timer: 2 or 12 seconds delay plus Custom mode
Multiple exposures: Yes, 2 frames composited
Interval recording: Yes, for time-lapse movies at 3840 x 2160 (4K) / 5fps, 10fps, 15fps, 30fps, 1920 x 1080 (FHD) / 5fps, 10fps, 15fps, 30fps or 1280 x 720 (HD) / 5fps, 10fps, 15fps, 30fps
Focus system: High-speed imager AF (phase detection/ contrast detection) with 1053 cross-type PD points and 1053 CD points,
AF selection: All target, Single target (1 point), Small target (9 points), Cross target (39 points), Middle target (63 points), Large target (165 points), Custom target (AF area and its increment steps selectable); up to 4 custom target settings can be saved
Focus modes: Single AF (S-AF), Single AF (S-AF+MF), Continuous AF (C-AF), Continuous AF (C-AF+MF), Manual Focus (MF), AF tracking (C-AF + TR), AF tracking (C-AF + TR+MF), Preset MF, Starry sky AF (S-AF), Starry sky AF (S-AF+MF); 5 steps of AF sensitivity adjustments, face & eye detection; AI detection AF for Formula cars, rally cars, motorcycles / Aircraft, helicopters / Bullet trains, standard trains, steam locomotives / birds / dogs, cats
Exposure metering: Digital ESP 324-area multi-pattern system with Multiple, Centre-weighted average and spot metering patterns plus spot metering with highlight/shadow control; range -2 EV to +20 EV
Shooting modes: Program AE, Aperture Priority AE, Shutter Priority AE, Manual Exposure
Picture modes: i-Finish, Vivid, Natural, Flat, Portrait, Monotone, Custom, Underwater, Colour Creator, Art Filters
Art Filter modes: Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale & Light Colour, Light Tone, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama, Cross Process, Gentle Sepia, Dramatic Tone, Key Line, Water Colour, Vintage, Partial Colour (18 colour selectable), Bleach Bypass, Instant Film
Other in-camera functions: HDR, Keystone Compensation, Fisheye Compensation (3 styles), Live ND64, High Res Shot (Handheld and Tripod modes), One Push Tele-converter (2x magnification)
Movie functions: Flat, OM-Log400, HLG Picture Modes, Time code (Rec run / free run, drop frame / non-drop frame), focus peaking, zebra pattern; C4K ProRes RAW movie support
Colour space options: sRGB and Adobe RGB
ISO range: Auto, ISO 200 to 25600 plus extensions to ISO 80, ISO 100 and ISO 102400
White balance: Auto WB, 7 WB presets, 4 Capture WB, Custom WB (Kelvin setting), +/- 7 steps of adjustments along A-B and G-M axes
Flash: External flashguns only
Flash modes: Fill-in, Flash Off, Slow sync., Manual (1/1 (FULL) ~ 1/64) – only with FL-LM3
Flash exposure adjustment: +/- 3EV in 1/3, ½ and 1EV steps
Sequence shooting: Max. 120 frames/sec. in silent mode with electronic shutter; Anti-shock sequential shooting at approx 10 fps with selectable 1-10 fps; Silent sequential shooting at up to 120 fps with selectable 5, 10, 15, 20 fps with blackout or 60, 100, 120 fps without blackout (slower shutter speeds and flash cannot be used); ProCapture burst shooting supported
Buffer capacity: Max. 169 Large/Fine JPEGs, 139 RAW files at 10 fps
Storage Media: Dual slots for SD, SDHC, SDXC cards (UHS-I / UHS-II UHS Speed Class 3 standard compatible)
Viewfinder: OLED EVF with 5,760,000 dots, 100% FOV, 4:3 aspect ratio,1.48~1.65x magnification, approx. 21 mm eye relief, -4 to +2 dpt adjustments, 6 grid overlay options, 2-axis level gauge, adaptive brightness technology plus +/-7 levels of brightness and colour temperature adjustments
LCD monitor: 3-inch vari-angle monitor with 1,620,000 dots, 3:2 aspect ratio, electrostatic touch controls, +/-7 levels of brightness and colour temperature adjustments
Interface terminals: USB-Type C, micro HDMI (Type D), hot shoe, sync terminal, 3.5 mm stereo mini jacks for microphone and headphones, 2.5mm remote control jack
Wi-Fi function: Built-in Wi-Fi (IEEE 802,11a/b/g/n/ac); Bluetooth v4.2 (Bluetooth Low Energy)
Power supply: BLX-1 rechargeable Li-ion battery; CIPA rated for approx.520 shots/charge; up to1100 shots with Quick Sleep mode; 90 minutes of movie recording; PD support for direct USB charging
Weather resistance: IEC Standard publication 60529 IP53 (with splashproof with IP53 lens, when used with an IPX1 lens, performance becomes IPX1.)
Dimensions (wxhxd): Approx. 134.8 x 91.6 x 72.7 mm (excluding protrusions)
Weight: Approx. 511 grams body only; 599 grams with battery and card
Distributor: OM Digital Solutions Australia, Ph: 1300 659 678
TESTS
(Based on JPEGs recorded with the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO lens.)
Based on ORF.RAW files recorded simultaneously and converted into 16-bit TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw.
SAMPLES
The images below were recorded with the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO lens at a focal length of 29mm.
ISO 80, 30 second exposure at f/5.
ISO 200, 20 second exposure at f/4.5.
ISO 1600, 10 second exposure at f/6.3.
ISO 6400, 4 second exposure at f/7.1.
ISO 12800, 2 second exposure at f/7.1.
ISO 25600, 1.3 second exposure at f/8.
ISO 51200, 1/2 second exposure at f/10.
ISO 102400, 1/4 second exposure at f/18. Top image from JPEG file, lower image from ORF.RAW file converted with Adobe Camera Raw.
All the images below were recorded with the M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 II lens.
AWB Tungsten lighting, Keep White setting; 17mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/30 second at f/5.6.
AWB Tungsten lighting, Keep Warm Colour setting; 17mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/30 second at f/5.6.
AWB Fluorescent lighting, 17mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/10 second at f/5.6.
AWB warm-toned LED lighting, Keep White setting; 17mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/25 second at f/5.6.
AWB warm-toned LED lighting, Keep Warm Colour setting; 17mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/25 second at f/5.6.
9mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/4 second at f/8.
18mm focal length, ISO 320, 1 second at f/8.
Crop from the above image at 100% magnification showing the effect of IBIS.
18mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/4 second at f/5.6.
18mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/80 second at f/9.
14mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/60 second at f/7.1.
15mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/60 second at f/5.
14mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/100 second at f/8.
18mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/30 second at f/5.6.
16mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/60 second at f/6.3. (The dog’s name is Ted.)
Live GND function: 18mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/640 second at f/13. (Upper image shows the scene without filtration; lower image shows Live GND applied.)
Live GND function: 18mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/200 second at f/13. (Upper image shows the scene without filtration; lower image shows Live GND applied across the frame at the lowest value to even out exposure.)
Live GND function: 18mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/60 second at f/11. (Left image shows the scene without filtration; right image shows Live GND applied diagonally.)
Still frame from C4K video clip recorded at 50 fps.
Still frame from UHD 4K video clip recorded at 50 fps.
Still frame from FHD video clip recorded at 50 fps.
Still frame from C4K video clip recorded at 25 fps.
Still frame from UHD 4K video clip recorded at 25 fps.
Still frame from FHD video clip recorded at 25 fps.
Additional image samples can be found with our review of the M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 II lens.
Rating
RRP: AU$3799 (body only)
- Build: 9.0
- Features: 9.0
- Ease of use: 8.9
- Autofocusing: 9.0
- Still image quality JPEG: 8.9
- Still image quality RAW: 9.0
- Video quality: 8.9
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