Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV
An entry- level mirrorless interchangeable lens camera you can carry everywhere
Olympus is one company that kickstarted the Live View and mirrorless revolution in the early 2000s with the E-series cameras, which were still bulky and had large and heavy lenses. Eventually the Micro Four Thirds system emerged, and we saw a very compact line-up of cameras and lenses from Olympus. The OM-D E-M10 Mark IV continues this lineage and is designed for entry level budget-conscious photographers.
Design & Build Quality
The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has a sturdy polycarbonate exterior with a matte inish. Like all OM-D cameras, the device has a compact design a stylish pro ile. The top panel features the shutter release button, two control dials, the mode dial, digital teleconverter button and record button on the right hand side and On/Off/Flash lever and shortcut button on the left. The back accommodates a directional button along with four other buttons. The LCD tilts vertically up and down.
Key Features
The 20.3-megapixel OM-D E-M10 Mark IV uses a Four Thirds (17.4 x 13.0 mm) Live MOS Sensor with a Supersonic Wave Filter protecting the sensor unit from dust. The E-M10 Mark IV features in-body 5-axis sensor shift image stabilisation stated to provide up to 4.5 stops of advantage in shutter speed. The camera accepts Micro Four Thirds lenses and features a single memory card slot that accepts an SD, SDHC or SDXC (UHS-I / II) card. Still images are recorded as 12-bit Raw (lossless compression) or JPEG at maximum dimensions of 5184 x 3888 pixels.
Simultaneous Raw and JPEG capture is possible. Autofocus is handled by Highspeed Imager AF, which uses contrast detection with the Live MOS sensor. It offers 121 focus points with All target, Single target (Normal) and Group target (9-area) options. Focus modes available are Single AF (S-AF), Continuous AF (C-AF), Manual Focus (MF), S-AF+MF and AF tracking (C-AF+TR). The system offers face and eye detection along with Peaking function. The camera uses TTL Image Sensor Metering, which provide metering modes such as Digital ESP (324-area multi pattern), Centreweighted average, Spot and Spot with highlight/shadow control. The metering system works ef iciently under light levels of -2 to 20 EV.
The camera offers equivalent sensitivity from ISO 200 to 6400, which can be extended from ISO 100 to 25,600. Exposure can be compensated up to ±5 EV in 1/3-EV steps. The camera uses a mechanical focal-plane shutter along with an electronic irst curtain shutter. The mechanical shutter offers shutter speeds from 60 to 1/4000 sec along with Live Bulb, Live Time and Live Composite options. The electronic irst curtain shutter offers 60 to 1/320 sec shutter speed. Silent mode is available. The EM-10 Mark IV offers six White Balance presets along with Auto, Capture WB (up to 4) and Custom WB (Colour
Temperature). White Balance can be compensated up to ±7 steps along the Amber-Blue and Green-Magenta axis. Picture modes available are i-Finish, Vivid, Natural, Flat, Portrait, Monotone, Custom, e-Portrait, Colour Creator and Art Filters. Art Filters include 16 effects. Exposure bracketing is available up to three frames in 1.0 EV steps and ive frames in 0.7 EV steps. Focus can be bracketed up to eight frames. HDR mode provides two settings.
The camera allows you to record videos in MOV format with MPEG4AVC and H.264 codecs up to 3840 x 2160 (4K) quality at 30p, 25p or 24p. Video clips can be recorded for up to 29 minutes at a stretch. Time Lapse movies can also be recorded at 3840 x 2160 (4K) resolution at 5 fps or 1920 x 1080 (FHD) at 5 fps, 10 fps or 15 fps. High-speed movies can be recorded at 120 fps up to 1280 x 720 quality. The device offers two modes of video stabilisation—Sensor shift + EIS (MIS1) and Sensor shift only (M-IS2).
The camera can shoot continuous frames at up to 8.7 frames per second in Sequential shooting H mode and up to 15 fps in Silent sequential shooting H mode. The camera allows you to shoot unlimited Raw images (limited only by memory card capacity) as a burst in Sequential shooting H and approximately 49 Raw images in Silent sequential shooting H mode.
The built-in TTL lash has a Guide Number of GN 5.1 m at ISO 100. Flash control options are TTL Auto and Manual. Flash modes include Redeye, Fill-in, Flash Off, Red-eye Slow sync. (1st curtain), Slow sync. (1st curtain), Slow sync. (2nd curtain) and Manual from Full (1/1) to - 1/64 of lash power. Flash syncs with the shutter at up to 1/250 sec. The camera allows you to use compatible external lashguns via the accessory shoe. Commander function is available.
The E-M10 Mark IV features a 2.36 Million-dot eye-level OLED electronic view inder. The monitor is a 3.0-inch, 1037k-dot, tilting capacitive touch panel. This provides an upward tilt of approximately 80 degrees and downward tilt of approximately 180 degrees. The camera offers a USB
Micro-B and a Micro HDMI (type-D) port for wired connection along with wireless options such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy Ver.4.2. This camera is powered by a BLS-50 Li-ion battery, which can be charged via USB in addition to the dedicated charging adaptor. The device measures 121.7 x 84.6 x 49 mm (W x H x D) and weighs 383 g with battery and memory card.
Ergonomics
The OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has a compact form factor yet offers great grip with the ergonomic design and textured inish. The grip and thumb rest are designed for optimum grip. The dials are quite responsive and knurled well for effortless operation. These also provide just enough damping with click stops. Both the view inder and monitor are designed for effortless viewing with crisp, clear and responsive display. The sel ie feature with the downward tilting LCD is a good effort, though we prefer the horizontal tilting LCD for this purpose. The top buttons are easily accessible and intuitive. Some people with large hands
may ind the back buttons a tad dif icult to operate.
Olympus OM-D menus are usually quite exhaustive to the point of being irritating. However, it seems that Olympus has trimmed the menu in this camera specially for beginners, offering only essential controls that do not feel like an airline cockpit anymore.
Performance
The E-M10 Mark IV focussed quickly with all the lenses provided for our review. Autofocus was almost instant with most subjects even under low light. Tracking performed as expected, latching on to faces readily without any trouble. Continuous shooting mode provided up to 8.5 frames per second in Sequential high-speed setting in both Raw and JPEG format and 7.5 frames per second in Raw + JPEG. Image Stabilisation provided close to 4 stops advantage in our tests, but this depends on the shooting conditions and other factors. Auto White Balance performed well, reproducing colours true to the original. Any mild cast could be easily removed in post-processing.
The out-of-camera images were quite sharp. Please note that image sharpness also depends on the optical quality of the lens used. We checked the images on a calibrated Full HD monitor with 92ppi resolution. At 25 percent of screen size, the images were perfectly usable at all sensitivities up to ISO 25,600. You could observe slight noise at ISO 25,600 if you deliberately look for it. Viewed at 50 percent, the images were absolutely noise-free up to ISO 3200. We found the images slightly unsharp from ISO 6400 onwards, suggesting application of aggressive noise-reduction.
ISO 25,600 turned out a bit more noisy, but were still usable. Enlarged to 100 percent, all images showed a bit of noise. Details were preserved up to ISO 3200. Thereafter, the noise-reduction effect was pronounced. ISO 12,800 and 25,600 turned very noisy. The noise-reduction is not very close to the full-frame or APS-C cameras we have seen recently, but for a small sensor in a compact body, and that too, in an entry-level camera, we would consider this good enough. 4K videos were smooth and the MSC (Movie and Still Compatible) series lenses help to eliminate operating noise in videos.
Value for Money
The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV is available in two kit forms—a single lens kit with the M.Zuiko Digital 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6EZ (28-82 mm equivalent) and a double lens kit with the 14-42 mm and the M.Zuiko Digital 40-150 mm f/4-5.6R (80-300 mm equivalent). While the single lens kit retails at an MRP of Rs. 89,990, the double lens kit carries a price tag of Rs. 97,990. We would consider this very good value for money.
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