Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III Summary

Olympus E-M5 Mark III

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III strikes a fantastic balance between features, performance, size and price. It is the most lightest and most compact weatherproof mirrorless camera ever made and still manages to include an EVF and builtin image-stabilization.

Image quality from the E-M5 Mark III closely matches expectations from a Four-Thirds sensor. Noise levels are low due to strong noise-reduction, while its dynamic-range is good. Metering and a flexible tone-curve lets this camera made great use of its dynamic-range.

Colors and Auto White-Balance both have room for improvement but are not so far off from reality. Internal processing renders details well with minimal artifacts. The 50 megapixels Super-Resolution mode can capture extremely fine details for still subjects.

An on-sensor 121-Point Phase-Detect AF system makes autofocus decisive and quite reliable down to low light-levels. The E-M5 Mark III is one of the fastest cameras on the market with full-resolution bursts possible at 30 FPS. A 10 FPS mode using the mechanical shutter can capture an unlimited number of images. Every operation on this camera is highly responsive.

Ergonomically, this mirrorless camera resembles its predecessor but offers a more efficient interface that makes excellent use of its dual control-dials and numerous buttons. There are tons of unique and useful features in this camera.

Although overshadowed by the flagship E-M1 series, the now significantly less pricey Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III undoubtedly offers better value by deliver most of its features at half the price! The main advantages of the E-M1 Mark III are its class-leading 7-stop image-stabilization system, 1½-stops above the E-M5 Mark III and a larger 0.74X magnification EVF, compared to 0.68X, although the flagship OM-D is 35% heavier.