The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III ($1,799.99, body only) looks and feels a lot like 2016’s E-M1 Mark II, but offers improvements all around, including an updated image processor that adds some new features, including a handheld mode for high-resolution image capture, first seen in the pricier E-M1X. The E-M1 Mark III is a more sensible camera for photographers invested in the Micro Four Thirds system, though, thanks to a more reasonable asking price and a smaller build.
A Tried-and-True Form
Olympus didn’t make a lot of changes to the E-M1’s body this go-round. Its general shape and size are unchanged. It’s smaller than most SLRs, but still gives you a big, deep handgrip and balances well with available lenses, even the larger F1.2 primes and telephoto glass that’s been added to the system in recent years.
It measures 3.6 by 5.3 by 2.7 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.3 pounds without a lens attached. It’s sold in a black finish exclusively, with pro-grade magnesium alloy construction and extensive dust and splash protection. The body doesn’t include a pop-up flash, but that’s par for the course when shopping this far above entry-level.
Olympus has gone the extra step and received a certification, IPX1, indicating that you’ll be safe to use it in wet weather. You’ll need to use a lens with weather protection to get there, but Olympus offers many.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/800-second, ISO 250
You can buy the camera as a body only, or in a kit with the 12-40mm F2.8 zoom ($2,499) or the 12-100mm F4 ($2,899), both representing savings versus buying them piecemeal.
At press time, Olympus is also selling a bundle with the camera and three lenses, the 7-14mm F2.8, 40-150mm F2.8, and 300mm F4, for $5,800. The total discount versus buying them separately equals the cost of the camera itself—Olympus is billing it as a way to get it for basically nothing—but does require you to make a big investment in lenses up front. The promotion expires at the end of June.
Control at Your Fingers
The E-M1 series is aimed at photographers who know their way around a camera. Olympus packs the body to the gills with controls, including dual dials, buttons to set drive mode and focus, and, new with this model, a dedicated joystick that adjusts the autofocus area.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/800-second, ISO 320
Two programmable function buttons sit between the handgrip and lens mount; one is concave and the other convex so you’ll have a little bit easier time telling them apart.
The On/Off switch is up top, to the left of the hot shoe, and is flanked by buttons to set the drive mode and change autofocus and metering settings.
The Mode dial sits just to the right of the raised area that houses the viewfinder. It locks and unlocks using a central post. The rear control dial sits right next door, with the forward one positioned at an angle atop the handgrip, the shutter release at its center. Two buttons—EV adjustment and Record/Movie—are placed between the two dials.
Rear controls start to the left of the eyecup, above the LCD, where you find the Menu and eye sensor control buttons. To the right you find the AEL/AFL button and the Fn Lever that toggles between two control schemes surrounding it.
The Fn Lever is very much an Olympus thing—you won’t find it in cameras from other brands. You can set it to change the functions of the front and rear dials (mode1), swap between two sets of autofocus settings (mode2), or switch between still and video capture (mode3). I opted for the mode2 setting, with one position used for continuous focus with subject tracking and the second to lock focus in once it’s been acquired (AF-S).
The ISO button is at the top right corner, all by its lonesome, separated from other controls by the thumb rest. The eight-way focus control is just to its left. It sits nearly flush, more of a nub than a joystick, and is a much more efficient, comfortable way to move the focus point than the four-way directional pad that sits below it.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/1,000-second, ISO 400
The d-pad serves the same functions, a comfort for E-M1 Mark II owners who may still reach to it out of muscle memory. The Delete, Info, and Play buttons sit below it, and round out the camera’s physical controls.
Super Control Panel
They’re supplemented by a touch LCD. You can tap on-screen icons to adjust select settings, though the full text menu isn’t navigable by touch. Still, there’s plenty there, including the Super Control Panel, an on-screen interface with a number of options. It’s navigable by touch, and thoughtfully laid out, but you’re not able to customize it. This is in contrast to similar pop-up menus from rivals Fujifilm and Sony, both of which allow you to select what options are included.
Display and Viewfinder
The LCD is a 3-inch panel and is mounted on a hinge. It can face flat against the rear, either exposed or hidden away, and swings out to the side so you can view it from the front, or when holding the camera above your head or down low to the ground. The display is quite sharp, 1,040k dots, and its brightness can be pumped high for use on sunny days.
The viewfinder is pretty big, with a 0.74x magnification rating, but it isn’t as sharp as some of its competition (2.36 million dots). The Fujifilm X-T4 has a viewfinder that only appears a hair larger to the eye (0.75x), but is notably crisper (3.69 million dots). We’d have preferred Olympus to step it up and use the best quality viewfinder for its flagship camera.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/800-second, ISO 800
Connectivity and Power
The E-M1 Mark III includes Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. It pairs with a smartphone app, Olympus OI Share, available as a free download for Android and iOS. The app works as a remote control for the camera, complete with a live feed from the lens, and lets you transfer images to your phone for social sharing. It also includes a store interface, and will push notifications of sales and promotions to your phone’s home screen—it’s worth taking the time to disable push notifications if you don’t want the spam.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/800-second, ISO 320
The app can use some updates, though. For one, it’s only able to pair a single camera at a time—if you’re an enthusiast with more than one Olympus model, switching between them is a pain. It’s able to transfer Raw files, but iOS doesn’t support the format, so you can’t edit them in your normal apps, or even Olympus’ own editor, OI Palette.
Lightroom Mobile loads the Raw files easily, and is available as a mobile editing option for Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers. I wasn’t able to offload images directly from the camera to my iPad Pro via USB, but a card reader managed the job just fine.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/800-second, ISO 640
In addition to USB-C, you get a PC sync socket to connect to external lights, micro HDMI, and 3.5mm jacks for an external mic and headphones. There are two memory card slots, both with support for SDXC media and UHS-II transfer rates.
The battery is rated for about 420 shots per charge, notably fewer than competing models like the Sony a6600 (720 shots) and Fujifilm X-T4 (600 shots). You can top off via USB-C, so it’s a good idea to carry a power bank for extended outings, or to pick up a spare. The battery is the same as the one used by the E-M1 Mark II and E-M1X, though, so if you’re a longtime Olympus user you may already have spares on hand.
M.Zuiko 12-45mm F4, 23mm, f/4, 1/2,000-second, ISO 200
Autofocus and Continuous Capture
The E-M1 Mark III uses the same image sensor as its predecessor, a 20MP Micro Four Thirds chip with on-sensor focus. It supports both contrast and phase detection, and spreads the latter across 121 distinct points. Coverage isn’t as extensive as some others—the autofocus doesn’t quite reach the edge of the sensor—but it’s wider than you’ll get from most SLRs.
See How We Test Digital Cameras
Despite having the same basic bones, there are some upgrades over the Mark II. The E-M1 Mark III adds a Starry Sky autofocus mode so astrophotographers can more easily lock focus on celestial subjects, and Olympus has promised that the general performance and subject tracking capabilities are better.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/1,000-second, ISO 1000
Among them are face and eye detection, which work quickly and reliably. Subject tracking isn’t as amazing—the camera is quick enough to identify a subject, but tends to drift as your subject moves through the frame.
When photographing a goose at a local park, for example, the focus system consistently lost track of its head and locked onto its neck instead. Both neck and head feathers are black, but competitors like the Sony a6600 and Fujifilm X-T4 are smart enough to recognize the eyes and bill too, and don’t show similar drift.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/800-second, ISO 5000
The camera can fire off shots at up to 60fps with the electronic shutter and 15fps using the mechanical one, but it doesn’t focus between every shot at those speeds. Still, at 18fps with the e-shutter and 10fps with the mechanical one, the E-M1 Mark III offers plenty of speed.
For subjects that aren’t moving toward or away from the lens—think birds at a feeder or a head-on image of a goalie trying to block a shot—the Pro Capture mode comes in handy so you can find the absolute perfect moment of action. It allows you to buffer a bit of action without actually saving it by half-pressing the shutter—as soon as you see the moment you want to capture, press it down all the way and the camera will save images from a little bit before the moment and a little bit after. You can customize how many it will take at a time via the menu, so you won’t fill up your memory card (too) quickly.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/1,250-second, ISO 200
Our lab tests show the E-M1 Mark III doesn’t respond quite as swiftly to changes in focus as its competition, but still nets shots that are mostly in focus, both at 10fps and 18fps. In the field, I didn’t miss any shots because of lack of response from the camera; loss of the subject when tracking was more of an issue.
At 10fps I was able to get just shy of 55 Raw+JPG images in a burst before the camera started to slow; but there was a long delay, about 30 seconds, for all images to clear to memory. You can go for longer durations by changing the file format. I got 115 shots in Raw and about 135 when using the highest-quality JPG setting. All tests were performed with a 300MBps Sony Tough UHS-II memory card.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/6.3, 1/800-second, ISO 800
Image Sensor
The E-M1 Mark III uses the same 20MP Micro Four Thirds image sensor as its predecessor, and other recent models from Olympus like the E-M5 Mark III and E-M1X. It doesn’t offer quite the same resolution, or surface area, as competing cameras with APS-C format chips, like the Fujifilm X-T4 and Sony a6600.
There hasn’t been a huge advance in resolution in Micro Four Thirds sensor technology in recent years. It’s telling that Olympus is using a 20MP imager here. To make up for the lack of pixels, the camera includes a very strong image stabilization system and support for multi-exposure capture.
M.Zuiko 12-45mm F4, 24mm, f/4.5, 1/500-second, ISO 200
The multi-shot mode shifts the image sensor slightly and takes shots in rapid succession, leveraging the fully electronic shutter to get there. It can manage 50MP output when working handheld, and if you don’t mind bringing a tripod along, you can set it to shoot for 80MP output.
The handheld option is an upgrade from the Mark II, and something that you don’t get with the E-M5 series and other lesser-specced models. You also get Live ND with this model for long exposure daylight photography without the need for a lens filter, and Live Bulb and Composite for making long exposure scenes at night.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/400-second, ISO 200
Keep in mind that these multi-shot modes are best utilized for static subjects. Olympus has added some intelligence to the compositing, so blowing leaves and branches won’t look otherworldly, but you shouldn’t reach to the feature for portraits and action shots.
When you look away from the computational features, you see where the E-M1 Mark III struggles versus competing systems. If you’re a JPG shooter, you won’t get quite the same level of quality at higher ISO settings, used in dim light and for very short shutter speeds—as you get from an APS-C chip, yet alone a full-frame one.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/800-second, ISO 500
Images show excellent detail through ISO 800, and while they lose a little bit of clarity through ISO 3200, results are still quite good. There’s some blur at ISO 6400, though, and it’s worse at the highest available options, ISO 12800 and 25600.
The Fujifilm X-T3, X-T4, and others that use its 26MP sensor do a better job, delivering clearer results through ISO 12800, and offering better quality ISO 25600 capture and ISO 51200 if you want it.
M.Zuiko 12-45mm F4, 25mm, f/4, 1/400-second, ISO 200
Many E-M1 buyers will use Raw format. The files show a little more grain and a little more detail. They look very good through ISO 6400, and are a fine choice for a grainy analog look at ISO 12800. Beyond that, though, output is overwhelmed by grain.
The sensor stabilization is exceptional, though, so you’re often able to use a lower ISO setting than you would with another camera. There are exceptions—stabilization isn’t useful for photographing moving subjects, and for some disciplines you’ll need to use a short shutter speed to freeze motion. If you’re photographing sports in dimly it gyms, you’ll get cleaner results from a full-frame camera like the Sony a7 III.
M.Zuiko 12-45mm F4, 45mm, f/4, 1/1,000-second, ISO 200
You won’t get as much room to open shadows or curb highlights, though. The E-M1’s sensor is limited to 12-bit Raw output, giving you a lot more flexibility than you can expect from an 8-bit JPG, but not as much as 14-bit Raw formats offered by the Fujifilm X-T4, Sony a6600, and other competitors.
Depth of field control is also worth talking about. Because shorter focal lengths are used to net wider angles—a 12mm lens on the E-M1 matches the view of an 16mm one on an APS-C camera, 24mm on full-frame—you typically don’t get as much background blur in photos.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/800-second, ISO 500
To make up for it, Olympus sells a trio of big (for the system) lenses with f/1.2 apertures. They’re spendy, at $1,200 each, and net about as much depth of field as an f/1.4 on an APS-C system or f/1.8 full-frame lens. If you’re after the shallow depth of field look, you are almost certainly better off with a system built around a larger sensor.
On the other hand, Micro Four Thirds owners have access to svelte f/1.8 prime lenses and an array of good, lightweight zooms that include weather protection and fixed aperture designs. The 12-100mm F4 and 12-45mm F4 are both options that are unmatched by other systems, and there’s a 12-40mm F2.8 if you want a brighter standard zoom.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/800-second, ISO 1000
4K Video
The E-M1 Mark III doesn’t offer any palpable video updates. Like its predecessor, it records 4K at up to 30fps with excellent stabilization and the option to use a flat color profile if you want to color grade your own footage. At 1080p, you can push the frame rate as high as 60fps for standard capture and 120fps for silent slow-motion.
Clean HDMI output is available, so you can record to an external device like an Atomos Ninja V to net a bit better compression from a 4:2:2 8-bit signal. You should do your best to get exposure right in camera, though, as clips don’t retain as much information as you get from cameras that record at 10-bit quality.
There’s still something to be said about just how effective the E-M1 Mark III’s stabilization system is for video, though. If handheld recording is your thing, be happy to know that you can get great results with the E-M1. I would typically bring a tripod for any sort of telephoto work, but was able to get reasonably steady footage along with a 300mm lens and 1.4x teleconverter.
As Goods As Micro Four Thirds Gets
M.Zuiko 12-45mm F4, 25mm, f/16, 1/400-second, ISO 200
With the E-M1 Mark III, Olympus has made its best Micro Four Thirds camera, but it’s telling that upgrades from the aging Mark II are not earth shattering. The two cameras use the same image sensor and basic body design, and offer very similar performance in most respects.
That means owners of the Mark II will have to find other reasons to upgrade. There is one notable ergonomic upgrade, the addition of a dedicated focus control, but I do wish Olympus had also put a crisper viewfinder in the camera; the magnification is higher, but there’s no corresponding increase in resolution.
M.Zuiko 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/800-second, ISO 2500
There are also other systems to consider, but if you already have a big investment in Micro Four Thirds lenses you’re likely to stay close to home. It’s really a toss-up as to whether you like the Olympus way of doing things, or if you prefer Panasonic’s cameras, like the similarly capable Lumix G9.
If you’re not yet schlepping a lot of lenses around, or are contemplating a new system, Micro Four Thirds has a little less appeal than a few years ago. Larger, full-frame sensors are now much more affordable, with models like the Sony a7 III offering a lot of camera for a bit more money. They’re something to think about if you’re considering buying f/1.2 Micro Four Thirds lenses—an f/1.8 lens on a full-frame sensor will net a similar look for a lot less money.
For customers who don’t quite want full-frame, there are compelling APS-C options too. Fujifilm’s system has a number of compact, weather-sealed prime lenses at attractive prices, and while we’ve not completed our review of its latest model, the X-T4, early indications show that it’s absolutely the camera to beat in its class.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III Specs
| Dimensions | 3.6 by 5.3 by 2.7 inches |
| Weight | 1.3 lb |
| Type | Mirrorless |
| Sensor Resolution | 20 MP |
| Sensor Type | CMOS |
| Sensor Size | Micro Four Thirds (17.4 x 13mm) |
| Lens Mount | Micro Four Thirds |
| Memory Card Slots | 2 |
| Memory Card Format | SDXC (UHS-II) |
| Battery Type | Olympus BLH-1 |
| Minimum ISO | 64 |
| Maximum ISO | 25600 |
| Stabilization | 5-Axis IBIS |
| Display Size | 3 inches |
| Display Resolution | 1.04 million dots |
| Touch Screen | Yes |
| Viewfinder Type | EVF |
| Viewfinder Magnification | 0.74x |
| EVF Resolution | 2.36 million dots |
| Connectivity | PC Sync, Remote (2.5mm), Bluetooth, USB-C, Wi-Fi, micro HDMI, Microphone (3.5mm), Headphone (3.5mm) |
| Maximum Waterproof Depth | 0 feet |
| Video Resolution | 4K |
| HDMI Output | 4:2:2 8-bit |
| Flat Profile | Yes |
