I tested the OMD EM10 III with a variety of lenses, including the kit zoom and the 45mm f1.8 and 75mm f1.8 primes, and found it could just about handle subjects moving at a leisurely speed towards you when set to its lower continuous shooting speed of 4fps; think jogging or slow cycling. But at the faster speed I failed to achieve more than a couple of focused images in a burst. Similarly if the subject was faster, like a bird in flight, the EM10 Mark III really struggled even at its low speed. The feature set of the mirrorless E-M10 is very impressive. It contains some of the top spec technology featured in the OM-D range, and this puts it on a par with recently launched and similarly priced DSLRs.

Olympus OM-D E-M10 - Wikipedia Olympus OM-D E-M10 - Wikipedia

Keen videographers will appreciate the fact that there's greater control over video settings and it's possible to record Full-HD footage at a maximum of 60fps (frames per second) and VGA footage at 120fps. There's also a My Clips option shoot short clips of video that are joined together in-camera to create more dynamic movies. In addition, for more advanced users there's a clean HDMI output for recording or viewing on external devices. The E-M10 offers 24 scene modes as well as 12 Art Filters, along with 7 colour presets and custom colour slots – so there’s plenty of scope for experimenting. There are another seven picture colour modes, which sees the camera apply some filtering of its own. The model cost less than the OM-D E-M5 and OM-D E-M1 models that preceded it. Some features of the previous models, such as weather sealing, were not included. The E-M10 featured only a 3-way image stabilizer instead of the other models' 5-way stabilizer.

Introduction

The Olympus OMD EM10 Mark III employs a Micro Four Thirds sensor and lens mount which, like all OMD and PEN models before it (along with all Panasonic Lumix G cameras), results in a field reduction of two times relative to full-frame systems. So a 25mm lens delivers an equivalent field of view to 50mm on full-frame, and the effective depth of field compared to full-frame is also reduced by two times, so f1.4 on Micro Four Thirds will deliver a depth of field equivalent to f2.8 on full-frame. On the top of the EM10 III you’ll find a small popup flash, rated at a Guide Number of 8.2 at 200 ISO, along with a hotshoe to mount external flashguns. Other cameras in its class are also equipped with popup flashes and while they’re all small, I still find them useful for close-range use or fill-ins. I miss their absence on higher-end models like the OMD EM5 Mark II. On top is a vacant flash hotshoe that sits directly above the lens, with a clever Off / On / Flash Up switch and a Shortcut button on the left hand-side when viewed from the rear. The Off / On / Flash Up switch is much more convenient than the On-Off switch on the original E-M10, with a further push from the On position to Flash Up doing exactly what you'd expect - very neat. Unlike the more expensive OM-D cameras, the new E-M10 Mark IV isn't weather-sealed, an obvious concession to its lower price-point, so you'll need to look at models higher up the range if this is a must-have feature. Alongside is the user attributable 'Fn2' function button, which rather un-usefully zooms in by 2x by default. Completing the EM-10 Mark IV's top-plate is a red video record button. Press this to record, or stop recording, no matter which shooting mode is otherwise selected on the top dial.

Olympus OMD EM10 Mark III review | Cameralabs Olympus OMD EM10 Mark III review | Cameralabs

I really like how this button provides access to additional options, depending on the mode. It works particularly well in Auto with the Shooting Tips, but is also a handy way of accessing the Super Control Panel in PASM modes, while leaving the OK button to access the simpler options strip down the right side of the screen. These may all be subtle changes to the user interface, but make a big difference in day-to-day operation, especially for the target market.

One of our favorite mirrorless cameras just got even better

Beyond this, the camera's Auto mode has also been reworked so that it attempts to detect movement in the scene, to help it better select the right settings for shooting. Overall it's a subtle update, but calling it the OM-D E-M10 II Mark II would be silly, even for Olympus. Rivals and Peers The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV can record 4K movies at 30p, 25p, 24p and Full HD movies at 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, 24p. Here’s an example of Live Comp used for light painting, which I took at an Olympus event using the earlier EM5 Mark II, although the functionality is essentially the same here; the artists were Zolaq. The mode was set to a five second cycle at f8 and 100 ISO, and the entire process took about five minutes to complete. Further to the right is the small-ish shutter release button, with the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV readying itself for action in a second or so. One of the key new features for the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV is the welcome addition of a 20MP Live MOS sensor, which is a boost from the previous generation’s 16MP sensor. This brings the E-M10 series in line with the latest versions of the E-M5 and E-M1 series, which are both also using 20MP sensors.

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II review | TechRadar Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II review | TechRadar

In most respects the E-M10 IV doesn't stand out from the crowd. The real highlight is its in-body image stabilization, which reduces shake on any Micro Four Thirds lens you attach, and there are many to choose from. Battery life is above average, as well. There’s a good number of white balance presets and customisable options for more specific balancing. As well as the ability to manually set a Kelvin adjustment, there are four easily accessible slots for custom WB. This can be set by photographing a white card and applying the calculated WB. Shutter speeds60-1/4,000 sec with mechanical shutter; up to 1/16,000 sec with electronic shutter; plus Bulb

Sample RAW Images

Olympus have introduced several major improvements since the Mark III version was released in 2017. The kit zoom is fairly sharp even wide-open, especially towards both ends of its zoom range. The primes are both very sharp lenses, especially the 45mm F1.8. The selection of Micro Four Thirds lenses is broad, so whether you favor image quality, brightness, size and weight or affordability, there should be plenty of lenses to choose from at common focal lengths. Switch the power on and the lens extends by a couple of centimetres with the camera ready for action in less than two seconds; it’s actually not much different to the cold power-up time with a prime or non-collapsing zoom. The zoom operation on the lens is motorised only, using a spring-loaded ring on the barrel – it’s not as tactile as a mechanically-linked ring, but that’s the price of miniaturisation. Meanwhile a thin ring at the end offers manual focusing and while it’s narrow, the damping makes it a lot more usable than the loose ring on the Sony 16-50mm kit zoom.