Olympus Takes Wrap Off OM-D E-M1X

2019.01.24

After weeks of teasers, Olympus finally revealed their ultimate flagship mirrorless digital camera this morning. Their OM-D series represents the highest-level of Micro Four-Thirds cameras from Olympus with the E-M1 Mark II reviewed here at the top-of-the-line until the all-new Olympus OM-D E-M1X arrives next month. While based on the same 20 megapixels Four-Thirds CMOS sensor with 121-Point Phase-Detect AF system built right in, the E-M1X doubles processing power to deliver unprecedented throughput for a Micro Four-Thirds mirrorless.

The flagship Olympus OM-D E-M1X is built around a proven 20 MP Four-Thirds CMOS sensor with ISO 200-25600 sensitivity range. This is expandable now down to ISO 64 and paired with a completely new hybrid shutter which can do 1/8000s-30s exposures mechanically and is good 400K actuations. In electronic mode, the shutter snaps photos at up to 1/32000s, putting it on par with the competition. This sensor can shoot continuously at 60 FPS for up to 49 JPEG images are RAW files, which is passed in less than a second! Turning speed down to 18 FPS allows continuous autofocus for 89 JPEGs or 74 RAW files which falls just shy of 5 second bursts. Cinema 4K video at 24 FPS and 1080p HD at 120 FPS are available for videographers.

Olympus built the E-M1X into a new dual-grip body with double dual-control-dials, two 8-way focusing joysticks, dual shutters and two sets of front-mounted customizable buttons. This makes this camera the first dual-grip mirrorless of any brand. As one would except from such a professional grade body, the E-M1X is full weatherproof, even more than previous models and freezeproof to -10C. It sports dual SDXC UHS-II memory card slots to deliver its class-leading throughput. Instead of inventing a new battery for the E-M1X, Olympus made this camera run on dual batteries from the E-M1 Mark II, placed in a cartridge system. They can be charged in-camera but we do not know if a dual-charger is provided or if the camera would run with just one battery.

With this OM-D, Olympus is pushing the limits of image-stabilization to levels previously thought to be impossible! Its new 5-axis image-stabilization system delivers an incredible 7-stops of advantage over hand-holding which is further pushed to 7.5-stops when combined with lens-based image-stabilization. The new high precision gyroscopes are assisted by an accelerometer, digital compass and GPS. The E-M1X records this information into metadata plus atmospheric pressure and temperature for the first time in an interchangeable lens camera.

Framing is provided by a 0.5" EVF with 2.4 megapixels, 100% coverage and 0.83X magnification, plus an Eye-Start Sensor. This makes the viewfinder of this mirrorless as large as the one in the Panasonic Lumix G9 which is only surpassed by a handful of Medium Format EVFs. The new EVF has a 5ms response-time and 120 Hz refresh-rate. There is also a rotating 3" LCD with 1 megapixels.

This would not be an Olympus if it wasn't an extremely feature-rich camera. It offers 5 metering modes, including Highlight Spot pioneered by Olympus. There are bracketing features for Auto-Exposure, Flash, White-Balance and Focus. Focus Stacking, HDR and an Interval Timer are also provided. The camera sports in and out connections for stereo audio, 4K HDMI output, USB-C connectivity, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, a hot-shoe, wireless flash control and even a Sync-Port. There really is not much the Olympus OM-D E-M1X cannot do.

The Olympus OM-D E-M1X is scheduled to be available in February 2019 for $3000 USD. The unique Micro Four-Thirds camera can already be preordered at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Adorama and B&H Photo. As usual, credit cards are not charge until the product ships while ensuring orders to be fulfilled early.

• Digital Camera