Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III
A well-rounded, easy to transport model – but with a smallish sensor.
After being one of the pioneers of mirrorless, Olympus has been a little quiet of late. Still, it’s been plodding along in the background making reliable and decent all-rounders, with a respectable set of useful specifications.
The OM-D E-M5 Mark III is awkwardly named, but it brings with it a number of high-end specifications including best-in-class five-axis image stabilisation, swift autofocusing and a light body that’s weather-sealed.
Being a Micro Four Thirds camera, this model has a smaller sensor than the others in this group. There are both upsides and downsides to that.
While image quality in lower light conditions might not be on par, and it’s harder to create very shallow depth of field effects, it means that the overall system is pleasingly dinky.
It’s easy to pack the OM-D E-M5 Mark III and several lenses in a small bag, giving you lots of flexibility for shooting in a variety of different shooting situations.
Despite the small body, the control layout is fairly well-spaced, with a retro design which is likely to appeal to those with a penchant for the traditional. That said, the rear buttons are a little on the small side.
Again, this is not really a camera which is likely to be picked up by sports enthusiasts, but with up to 10fps available with continuous autofocus, it’s not too shabby for some moving subjects.
One of the most impressive aspects of this camera is the five-axis image stabilisation, which gives you scope to shoot handheld for very slow shutter speeds. This gives you the option to keep the ISO nice and low for pleasingly noise-free images, helping somewhat to overcome the fact that the sensor is smaller than the other two models here.
Vloggers may also like it. It can shoot in Cinema 4K, and with a fully articulating a screen which faces all the way forward you can frame yourself to perfection.
The most important aspect of any camera is how well it delivers images. Here, the OM-D E-M5 Mark III does very well, but it’s slightly behind in the low-light stakes. How often you shoot in low light may depend on how much this bothers you – and it’s still very possible to take attractive low-light shots so long as you don’t obsess over every pixel.