OM Digital Solutions, the new home for the historic Olympus camera brand, is marking the 50th anniversary of an icon this year, the OM-1, and celebrating the occasion with the digital OM System OM-1 ($2,199.99, body only). Plenty about the mirrorless camera should excite Micro Four Thirds shutterbugs, including speedier computational imaging modes, cleaner high-ISO images, blistering burst rates, and a build that’s just as tough as its predecessor. The OM-1 is a significant upgrade from the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III on all fronts. It falls shy of our Editors’ Choice award, which stays with the $1,700 Fujifilm X-T4, but photographers invested in Micro Four Thirds lenses should look closely at the OM-1.
The Ultimate Olympus
If you missed the news, Olympus sold off its imaging division in 2020, opting to concentrate instead on its medical and industrial businesses. After some corporate shuffling, OM Digital Solutions emerged as the caretaker of the Olympus arm of the Micro Four Thirds system and markets its cameras and lenses under the OM System banner.
The OM-1 is the first OM System camera to hit the US market. It’s also the last one with the Olympus logo—OM Digital Solutions is retiring the logo after this model. As for its place in the lineup, the price has certainly jumped. The OM-1 is a clear-line successor to the E-M1 Mark III, but debuts for $400 more than that model. This may be more of a sign of the camera market in general, as the recent Panasonic Lumix GH6, another Micro Four Thirds sensor entry, also comes in around $2,200.
An uptick in fit and finish quality accompany the loftier price, however. The OM-1 follows the E-M1’s footsteps pretty closely in concept—it’s a sensibly sized handheld camera with strong stabilization, weather protection, and a sturdy magnesium frame. The system is a favorite for outdoor photographers—a lighter kit is welcome for those who trek miles for a shot, and weather protection is a requirement for serious work.
OM System goes a bit beyond simply stating that the OM-1 is protected from dust and splashes. The camera is tested and rated to IP53 standards, which means it prevents most dust and sand ingress and handles water sprays from 60-degree angles.
Handling and Controls
The body is a sensible size, at 3.6 by 5.3 by 2.9 inches (HWD) and 1.3 pounds. It makes some subtle changes in style from the Olympus E-M1 series—the OM-1 has a slightly deeper handgrip, favors rounded edges over hard angles, and its buttons feel a bit better overall.
For the most part, buttons and dials are in an identical position as those on the E-M1 Mark III, a welcome continuation for photographers upgrading to the new body. The front and rear dials are different though—OM moved them inside the top plate from the top. It’s a departure for the system, but a slight enough change that you shouldn’t have too much trouble adjusting. It has the benefit of setting the shutter release on its own, so there’s very little risk of nudging a dial when reaching for it. Olympus took a similar approach with the pro-targeted E-M1X.
The top plate hosts only two buttons behind the shutter: Record and EV. The Mode dial sits nearby, it sports a central post lock, the type you toggle on or off. The On/Off switch is off to the left side, nestled into the side of raised Drive/Self-Timer and AF/Meter buttons. These match up with the E-M1 series, though I like the feel of the OM-1’s take a little bit better. The two buttons are slightly concave and the power switch is thicker—they’re all a bit easier to find by touch.
Front and rear controls are fairly standard, though we’re happy to see two customizable buttons between the grip and lens mount—some pro cameras don’t utilize this space for controls at all. Rear controls are standard fare—Menu, Display, Play, and Delete buttons are spattered about, along with a d-pad for menu navigation, an eight-way joystick to set the focus point, and a quick toggle switch to swap between camera modes.
A refreshed menu system supplements the controls, one that should make it a bit easier to tune the camera to your liking. The new system puts tabs of options on the top, not the side, and is more legible—the typeface is a little larger and each menu item sits against a gray backdrop. The system also includes a My Menu page, so you can store frequently used options in one place.
You’re more likely to dive into the menu here than with other cameras. The OM-1 has a number of computational features—we cover those a bit later—and is very configurable, so we’re happy to see the menus get some attention. One exception, however, is the on-screen overlay menu (the Super Control Panel), which has a fixed function set. This menu provides quick access to many functions, though, and also benefits from an increase in size and semi-transparent background. The Control Panel supports touch input, but the full menu system doesn’t.
The OM-1 includes a 3-inch LCD and eye-level electronic viewfinder. The LCD is a typical vari-angle design—you need to pull it away from the camera and swing it out to the side for articulation and rotation. It’s a good quality display, at three inches across diagonally and with a sharp resolution of 1.62 million dots, a bright backlight, and suitable viewing angles.
The eye-level viewfinder is a treat, and a big upgrade from the E-M1 Mark III. The EVF shows a larger image to the eye—it matches up with the best full-frame models with a 0.82x magnification rating and a crisp 5.8-million-dot OLED panel. The EVF refreshes at 60fps by default, but offers a high-speed 120fps option—a faster refresh rate is a good choice when photographing subjects in motion.
Power and Connectivity
A new battery powers the OM-1, the OM System BLX-1. CIPA rates it for 520 shots, which places it among the better mirrorless cameras in terms of battery performance. You’re likely to get more shots in real-world use—CIPA ratings are useful for comparing one camera against another, but tend to be conservative, especially for photographers who take advantage of burst capture modes. In practice, I never had to worry about the OM-1’s battery life during photo outings, provided I remembered to top it off. On-the-go charging is available via USB-C, and the OM-1 is capable of running and charging from PD-rated adapters, a plus for studio use.
In addition to USB-C, the OM-1 includes micro HDMI, 3.5mm microphone and headphone, and PC sync ports, as well as a hot shoe. You get two SDXC slots for storage and both support UHS-II transfer rates. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are inside for smartphone pairing and transfer—the OI.Share companion app (available for Android and iOS) supports remote controls, transfers, and geotagging.
You can add a vertical battery grip to the camera; the $349.99 HLD-10 holds a second battery (sold separately for another $99.99) and features controls that stay under-thumb when you hold the OM-1 in portrait orientation. The grip carries an IP53 rating, just like the camera.
Quad Pixel Autofocus
The OM-1 takes a new approach to autofocus, one that leverages its Quad Bayer image sensor. The architecture splits each pixel into four quadrants, or sub-pixels, for cross-type phase detection at every focus point. The OM-1 leverages 1,053 of these focus pixels for edge-to-edge autofocus coverage.
The focus system is quick enough to operate at 50fps with select lenses, including the M.Zuiko 300mm F4.0 Pro and other lenses with speedy focus motors—and 25fps with others. It gets the basics down pat—face and eye detection work well and without hesitation.
We’re a bit disappointed by the subject tracking, however. The OM-1 does as good a job as the E-M1 Mark III, which is to say it tends to drift off target when tracking subjects in motion. It’s good for quicker moments of action, but not as tenacious as the tracking systems we see in competitors like the Fujifilm X-T4 and Sony a6600—those models typically do a better job sticking with a subject.
But the OM-1 does better with specific subjects. It offers a few dedicated subject-recognition modes: Airplanes/Helicopters; Birds; Cars/Motorcycles; Cats/Dogs; and Trains/Locomotives. I tested all of the special modes, except for the Cars/Motorcycles one; that’s tuned to pick out motorsport vehicles (not commuter cars), and I didn’t find time to take the camera to a racetrack.
But my local birding spot is near a New Jersey Transit rail line as well as the approach path for Newark International, so it’s a good spot to try out the other modes. With the help of subject recognition, the OM-1 does a much better job. It draws boxes around tagged targets, so you know it detects and is focusing on them. For animals and birds, you see a larger box for the body and a smaller one over the eye.
Getting the camera to lock onto your target can be a chore, however, depending on your surroundings. I spent a good time with the Bird detection mode and, depending on the type of bird, I found I had to swap between focus areas for the best results. With waterfowl, eagles, and other larger birds set against a blue sky or swimming on open water, the wide focus area worked wonders—I let the camera do the work and only had to concentrate on capturing the moment.
It’s a vastly different story with songbirds in branches. Because I received the OM-1 to review in February, I had to contend with lots of bare trees. Even with bird detection turned on, the OM-1 jumps to branches in the foreground if its focus system is set to a wide view. This isn’t unexpected, but it means you need to switch to a smaller area of interest for focus or manually set the focus on a bird. The 1/2 toggle switch on the rear near the eyecup is handy here—by default, it swaps between two different sets of focus settings. I avoided using the 300mm F4’s focus clutch—it makes an audible click, loud enough to scatter birds hanging out near a feeder.
Even the smartest autofocus systems can struggle to find a target through heavy brush. I tried the OM-1 against the Canon EOS R5, a full-frame model that also has bird-detection autofocus, and had to give the lens a little manual focus help to cut through branches.
But whereas the R5 stays with a bird once it finds it, the OM-1 tends to jump off and back to foreground branches after the initial focus acquisition. You can see the behavior in action in the clip above—the OM-1’s focus system jumps from the cardinal to foreground branches. It’s a disappointing experience for birders, though we imagine it’s something that OM could address via firmware.
High-Speed Stacked Sensor
The OM-1 is built around a new image sensor, one that keeps the same 20MP pixel count as the E-M1 Mark III, but offers quicker readout for faster burst shooting and a more useful electronic shutter, as well as delivers better images at higher ISOs. It’s paired with an updated image processor for snappier operation all around and noticeably quicker image processing.
The burst shooting specs are impressive. When you use the fully electronic shutter, the OM-1 can snap Raw images with fixed focus and exposure at a blistering 120fps; it manages 50fps with continuous focus and autoexposure for every frame with select lenses—the 12-40mm F2.8 Pro I and II; 12-100mm F4.0 Pro; 40-150mm F2.8 Pro; 300mm F4 IS Pro; and 150-400mm F4.5 TC IS Pro. With other lenses, the tracking speed drops down to 25fps.
The buffer handles the speed well. I tested the OM-1 with 300MBps Sony Tough UHS-II media and netted around 100 shots at 120fps and 50fps, with pretty quick buffer clears—about 12 seconds for Raw+JPG pairs and six seconds for either JPG or Raw capture. A 10fps mechanical shutter mode is also available—at that rate, the camera can take hundreds of photos before the buffer fills.
The mechanical shutter shows a flickering view in the EVF, a familiar experience to photographers used to mirrorless systems. It’s useful for working in venues with tricky digital lighting—their scan rates can frustrate fully electronic shutters and introduce banding effects. It’s also required for flash work; the OM-1 doesn’t have an in-body flash, but ships with a pocketable add-on, the FL-LM3. The hot shoe provides power for it and the camera manages 1/250-second sync with the mechanical shutter.
For the most part, I leaned on the electronic shutter. It’s silent and reads out quickly enough to freeze moving action. The stacked sensor also helps you keep track of moving subjects—when working in the 25/50fps or 120fps continuous drive mode, there’s no blackout between exposures, so you see a continuous feed in the viewfinder.
If you work in the single release or basic continuous drive modes (configurable between 5 and 20fps), the viewfinder blacks out between exposures. It’s a good indicator that you’ve made an exposure, but one that doesn’t quite match up with the experience of other stacked sensor cameras. With the Canon EOS R3, Sony a1, and Sony a9 II, you don’t lose sight of a scene when using the electronic shutter, a real benefit for staying in the moment.
Computational Imaging
Olympus started putting computational photography into its cameras before the industry had settled on a name for the idea and OM Digital is carrying the torch forward. It’s better codified now because smartphones use computational methods to squeeze more dynamic range, blurred backgrounds, and clean nighttime results out of relatively tiny image sensors.
The OM-1 has a more capable imager to start. Its 20MP Micro Four Thirds chip is many times larger than the chips that back smartphone cameras, so it does a good job in low light on its own, and its lenses blur backgrounds optically. Its computational features are different and we detail each one below.
High Res Shot is at the top of the Computational menu page. This mode snaps a sequence of images in quick succession, shifting the sensor slightly for each exposure. The camera combines them (the process takes about three seconds) to net photos with more detail and truer color sampling. You can use it handheld and get 50MP results or swap to a tripod mode for 80MP output—it’s best for scenes without moving subjects. The mode is particularly useful for landscape photographers who want to print big.
Live ND Shooting is another useful option for landscape photographers. It blends a series of shorter exposures to simulate the effects of long-exposure imaging, a good fit for smoothing out running water or snapping surreal shots on overcast days with rolling clouds. It’s an alternative to carrying physical ND filters, but because Live ND is for stills only, you need filters for video.
Focus Stacking is useful for capturing macro photos with a large depth of field. It’s pretty easy to get a blurred background when focusing close, but if you want more of your subject in focus, you have to use a very small f-stop or focus stacking techniques. The in-camera mode takes some of the manual work out of the process—it takes a series of photos at different focus points and blends them for deep focus macros.
HDR is shorthand for High Dynamic Range, a mode that enables photos with lifted shadows and subdued highlights. If you’re trying to get a good photo of a subject in strong backlight or going for a less dramatic look in mixed lighting, the in-camera HDR is worth using.
Multiple Exposure is an in-camera mode that layers multiple exposures into one image, typically for a creative effect. You can experiment with this mode in real time or blend exposures together later via the OM-1’s in-camera Raw editing tools.
A Step Forward at Higher ISOs
We’ve talked about the benefits provided by the fast-reading Stacked CMOS sensor, but what about image quality? The OM-1’s pixel count is about the same as the E-M1 Mark III and E-M1X, but offers some real imaging improvements. Its sensitivity range is expanded, covering ISO 200-25600 in its native range, versus ISO 200-6400 for the E-M1 Mark III.
Our ISO test scene shows the new chip keeps up with the old one through ISO 6400—Raw output shows some grain as you push the sensitivity higher, but detail holds up. The OM-1 takes a slight edge as you enter the E-M1 Mark III’s extended range (ISO 12800), and continues at ISO 25600. That’s as high as the E-M1’s sensor goes in its extended range—with the OM-1, you can push to ISO 51200 or 102400. The noise pattern is rougher at ISO 51200 for sure, but it’s as usable as ISO 25600. There is some color shift and a real drop in fidelity at ISO 102400, but that’s to be expected. It’s no small feat for a Micro Four Thirds camera—this sensor is competitive with APS-C chips when you push the ISO.
You can also use the OM-1 to snap ready-to-share JPGs. At camera defaults, the high-ISO output looks a bit different—in-camera noise reduction cuts away grain when you push beyond ISO 6400, but erases small details in the process. Noise reduction is set to Standard by default—if you prefer a bit more detail and don’t mind some grain, there’s also a Low setting. You can turn JPG noise reduction off, too.
Shooting in the Raw format has advantages, though, inclduing in-camera processing. With Raw images, you can process photos using different JPG settings after the fact or leverage a big library of artsy filters for grainy black-and-white, pop art, soft focus, and other creative effects. The filters are also available for JPG-only capture.
Stabilized 4K
The OM-1 does video too—it supports 4K in 16:9 or 17:9 DCI ratios at up to 60fps and can push 1080p to 240fps for slow motion, just about matching up with the rival Fujifilm X-T4. The OM-1 supports 8-bit H.264 recording with standard color profiles—you can use art filters too, just in case you’re the David Lynch type and want to go for the grainy black-and-white Eraserhead look.
If you opt for 10-bit H.265 capture, you get better color sampling (4:2:0), but your in-camera color options are more limited. You can use the flat OM-Log profile and color correct when editing, or use an HLG profile for delivery to HDR screens. We used OM-Log for our test footage and applied OM’s LUT for a quick grade.
The 5-axis IBIS system is very useful for handheld video. I recorded some handheld wide-angle vlog-style footage and the results are very usable—not quite gimbal smooth, but not too far off. It’s good for telephoto shots too—I recorded a few clips with the 300mm F4 handheld, a lens that I’d have to lock down on a tripod with many other systems.
My only disappointment with the video specs is a lack of real 4K slow motion. More high-end cameras are pushing 4K120 slow motion—we’ve seen it in stacked full-frame entries like the Canon EOS R3 and Sony a1. Those are in a different price class, but I hoped quicker slow-motion video would trickle down. Of course, if you’re buying a Micro Four Thirds for video, the fresh Panasonic Lumix GH6 is more compelling than the OM-1. The GH6 supports 4K120 and the Apple ProRes codec.
Raw recording is coming to the OM-1, but requires an external recording device. The Atomos Ninja V and V+ are getting support for the camera’s 12-bit 4:4:4 Raw format via a forthcoming firmware update. The largest hurdle to using a recorder is the tiny micro HDMI port—these connections aren’t as sturdy as full-size HDMI ports and have earned a bad reputation for reliability, as they’re prone to damage from mishandled cables.
Worthy of the OM-1 Name
Photographers with a big stash of Micro Four Thirds lenses had some heart-skipping moments when Olympus spun off its camera division. But OM System has already put photographers at ease with a quality lens, the 20mm F1.4 Pro. It’s early days, and the OM-1 is just starting to ship to photographers, but our time with the camera has already shown it to be a big step forward for the Micro Four Thirds format. Time will tell if it’s remembered as well as its legendary namesake.
In terms of handling, the camera’s build quality is a tick up from the last generation of Olympus cameras—buttons feel better and the viewfinder is a big improvement over the one on the E-M1 Mark III. We also like the refreshed menus, which are a bit easier on the eyes. The sensor and processor upgrades make for snappy response all around.
But there are a few disappointments. We’re happy that OM included so many subject recognition modes, but autofocus isn’t completely reliable, and you need to tell the camera what type of subject you’re targeting. The $2,200 price isn’t totally out of line for such a capable camera, but it puts in the ballpark of full-frame models like the excellent Canon EOS R6 ($2,499), and well above the $1,700 Fujifilm X-T4, our current Editors’ Choice winner for less-than-full-frame mirrorless cameras.
Ultimately, if you’re using an E-M1 series camera, the OM-1 is a significant upgrade and still takes all of your Micro Four Thirds lenses. It’s also an excellent option (and system) if you care most about portability.
