I've just bought an Olympus E-M1X. I've been thinking about it for some time and the fact that Olympus just knocked £600 of the price finally convinced me. And in answer to the question in the posts title, yes I think that it is a genuinely 'pro' camera. It's different to what might be conventionally be called that, which for many is a heavy duty Nikon or Canon DSLR, but the E-M1X offers a lot more than just being a mirrorless version of said DSLR's. From working with it, what it offers is something different and for me something better than those old workhorses with their bulk, weight and noise.
Now first off lets get one thing clear. From the pictures of the E-M1X that you see and from various reviews you might think that this is a big heavy camera. Well, that's not how it feels. In fact it's virtually the same weight as my Lumix G9 + Battery grip and feels pretty much the same. It's worth remembering that in general m4/3 lenses are lighter than their DSLR 'FF' counterparts as well, so you get a 'big camera feel' without the weight and bulk. This is particularly impressive when you count in the weather sealing.
Now some criticise m4/3 altogether. However I take the opposite view. I believe that this smaller sensor is the best for me and what I do. And here's why.
- When you take sensor size into account ('FF' is 4x the area) and look at the quality the m4/3 is capable of, it surely has the best pixel by pixel quality to size ratio of any format.
- The size of the sensor allows high quality, highly specified cameras to loose the weight and the size of other larger systems. (APS-C which is not much bigger has the same advantages)
- Some cite the apparent lack of DOF as a 'disadvantage' Firstly that is simply not true. With the right lens and the right positioning you can achieve that shallow DOF / bokeh look. You just need to know what you are doing.
- High(er) ISO performance is not so good is an often quoted reason to criticise m4/3. Well yes there is obviously something in this. However, lens and body stabilisation, fast lenses (including the use of speedboosters) help with this as well. Plus how many photographers actually spend their time shooting in very dark places? I suspect not many.
- Somehow myths have grown up about the 'superiority' of what is called 'full frame'. i.e. a sensor the size of 35mm film. There seems to be little justification for this in the real world. For me 'full frame' has some real disadvantages, including size, weight and price. I was interested in the L-mount alliance for a while, but the cost of those monster lenses soon made me realise that m4/3 was much more suitable for me.
One of the things that the E-M1X has come up with has also levelled the playing field. The hand held 50MP 'image stacking' technology is truly remarkable. Both Olympus and Panasonic have had this for a while, but it always required a tripod. However that is no longer the case. Now it's not perfect since each image takes a while to process and as before a lot of movement in the frame leads to some odd results. However it does seem perfectly capable of coping with a moderately windy day.
This sunflower was blowing gently in the wind but the 1/250th. sec. shutter speed has captured the 8 images that the camera needs to put together the high res image from and created a sharp image. Now is this as good as a 'genuine' 50MP image. Well not quite, but I've found a bit of sharpening turns it into a high quality large file. As someone who shoots mostly landscape and architecture this works well for me. At the weekend I was shooting in a Cotswold village and the resulting images were very good indeed.
I would also mention in passing that Olympus have 'tidied up' their somewhat confusing menus, which as someone who has always found them difficult to navigate is a bonus.
The other impressive feature from the E-M1X is the high speed shooting and tracking. Now this is something I don't do, so if you need information on how that works, there are a lot of other reviews that can offer that.
We all have different requirements for our cameras and obviously the E-M1X won't suit everybody. And I suspect the dramatic price drop means this camera isn't flying off the shelves. However, as someone who has been making a living from m4/3 cameras for years, it's a camera that fits very nicely into what I do. I have decided to work with this, my Lumix G9 and Lumix GX9 as my digital cameras. Yes that does mean I'm selling my Leica M10 and Leica Q2. I will however be able to indulge my Leica passion with my three Leica film cameras.
Now whether m4/3 survives in the long term is impossible to say, however I doubt that it is ever going to go mainstream. And whether a 'professional' m4/3 camera body will attract more than a niche share of the market is doubtful. However, we all make choices from whatever is available and I certainly see a good few years use from the E-M1X.
