Olympus is an optical brand with a history of more than 80 years, obsessed with the miniaturization of cameras, and developed a complete set of small and beautiful "4/3 systems" in the SLR era. Based on the 4/3 system, Olympus and Panasonic developed the world's first mirrorless camera system: the M4/3 system. In 2017, Olympus won the top sales of mirrorless cameras in the most competitive Japanese market.
 
Olympus and Panasonic belong to the same M4/3 system camp, and the overall performance is similar, but the design style is very different. The exterior design of Olympus is mostly retro, with silver, gray, and black matte materials and black skin, and the workmanship is exquisite and elegant, which is the face of a mirrorless camera. Olympus' camera grip and handling are excellent, and the details are designed with functionality in mind, and are not deliberately distorted for retro purposes. In 2009, Olympus released its first mirrorless camera, the EP-1, which made a deep impression on the design of many mirrorless cameras due to its straight and smooth body lines, which fully carried forward the advantages of the mirrorless camera's simple structure.
 
The M4/3 system is limited by the small sensor, and the high-sensitivity performance is 1-2 stops worse than the full-frame system, but Olympus has the most mature five-axis anti-shake technology for the body, which can compensate for the swing and vertical and horizontal displacement caused by the reverse action of the sensor through the reverse action of the sensor, and can increase the exposure time by up to 5-6 stops.
 
Olympus cameras are divided into two series based on shape and handling: the OM-D series, which resembles a compact SLR, and the PEN series, which resembles a retro rangeshaft. The OM-D series has three main models from high to low, including EM1, EM5, and EM10, and the PEN series has a quasi-professional PEN-F and an entry-level E-PL. The image quality of Olympus contemporaries is almost the same, and the grades are mainly divided by control configuration.
 
OM-D series
 
EM1 is the strongest flagship of Olympus, and it is currently updated to the second generation of the EM1 Mark II, priced at about 10,000 yuan, with a retro but professional design, comfortable grip, and first-class handling. The fuselage has a continuous shooting speed of up to 18 frames per second, which is comparable to the Sony A9, which costs tens of thousands of yuan.
 
E-M5 Mark II is the main model of Olympus, positioned as a quasi-professional model, priced at about 5000 yuan, with top five-axis anti-shake performance and waterproof, dustproof and anti-freeze body, exquisite and retro shape, with high-pixel mode, multiple continuous shooting synthesis of 64 million pixel photos, excellent comprehensive experience, highly praised. EM10 is the entry model of the OM-D series, which can be understood as a reduced version of EM5, without a rugged body, and the specifications of five-axis image stabilization are one notch lower than that of EM5, but because it is the first to update to the third generation, it supports 4K video recording, which is what the E-M5 Mark II lacks.
 
PEN series
 
In 1959, Olympus released the PEN camera in the shape of a rangefinder, which became a classic masterpiece of Olympus. In the digital age, Olympus has reproduced the PEN, named PEN-F, which is a very beautiful camera, the body structure is cut from a single piece of aluminum alloy, the craftsmanship is exquisite, and the mechanical structure throughout the body satisfies the feelings of photographers. PEN-F is actually a quasi-professional camera, and its performance is even slightly better than E-M5 in all aspects, second only to EM1, and the price is about 6000 yuan.
 
Compared to several cameras in the OM-D series, the PEN-F is more suitable for street photography, with a rich built-in creative filter options and dedicated shortcut keys. In terms of built-in filters and retouching functions, Olympus is not inferior to Fujifilm, but these functions can be completed through the retouching software of a mobile phone or computer, and it is not a reason to buy a camera.
 
In addition to the general PEN-F, the PEN series also has the veteran E-PL series, which is positioned as an entry-level level, and has been updated to E-PL9, in addition to black, silver, and gray, there are more color options, but the material, workmanship, and design are significantly different from other Olympus products, and they are not as portable as the Panasonic GF of the M4/3 camp, and the price is also higher. The main advantage of E-PL over competitors in the same price range is the three-axis image stabilization function of the body, but there is no significant difference in the effect of the three-axis image stabilization of the body and the lens stabilization commonly used by other brands, and the image quality is completely inferior to the APS-C models of the same price range from Sony, Fujifilm, and Canon, and it does not have an advantage in portability, aesthetics, and handling.
 
Lens group
 
There are more than 60 lenses to choose from, including a low-priced and compact biscuit head, which can give full play to the small size of the M4/3 system, and a large and extremely sharp professional lens, so that the M4/3 system can also complete professional shooting tasks. In the early days, Panasonic used pure lens image stabilization, and Olympus used pure body image stabilization, resulting in redundancy in stabilization when Panasonic's lens was mounted on the Olympus body, and only a priority setting was required in the camera, which did not affect the use.
 
    ※What is the difference between the positioning and performance parameters of EM1, EM5 and EM10, and how to choose?
 
    The EM5 is a model launched by Olympus in 2012, positioned as a quasi-professional model, with a waterproof, splash-proof, dust-proof and anti-freeze body, exquisite and retro shape, excellent comprehensive experience, and highly praised. In 2015, it was updated to the second generation EM5 Mark II, with the top five-axis image stabilization technology that can increase the exposure time of 6 stops, Olympus has developed a high-pixel synthesis function by using sensor displacement, the sensor takes a photo by moving up and down, left and right each time by half a pixel, and synthesizes four 16 million pixel photos into a 64 million pixel HD photo, the sharpness of the picture is qualitatively improved, but the use of the function is limited, neither the camera nor the subject can have the slightest shaking, Otherwise, the picture will be pasted. The EM5 Mark II is equipped with a touchscreen that can be rotated and folded 360 degrees, allowing for multi-angle framing and selfies, which Sony and Fujifilm lack.
 
    EM10 is the entry model of the OM-D series, due to the first update to the third generation in 2017EM10-Mark III, the electronic performance is higher than the earlier release of EM5 Mark II, the price of the two is close, EM10-Mark III supports4K video recording, but due to the positioning of the entry, the body workmanship is slightly inferior, there is no rugged body, the specifications of the five-axis image stabilization are one notch lower than EM5, and there is no high pixel synthesis function, if you pay more attention to the photo function rather than video, It is still recommended to choose EM5.
 
    EM1 is Olympus' flagship series, which is currently updated to the second generation EM1 Mark II, priced at about 10,000 yuan, with a retro but professional appearance design, comfortable grip, and first-class handling. The fuselage has a continuous shooting speed of up to 18 frames per second, which is comparable to the Sony A9, which costs tens of thousands of yuan. It supports high-bitrate cinema-level 4K video shooting, and can also synthesize 80 million pixels of high-definition images through pixel shifts. The E-M1 is the only Olympus model with phase focusing, and it can be quickly focused even when it is connected to the lens of the previous 4/3 system. If you don't have an obsession with the frame, then the EM1 is an all-rounder camera.