Olympus EM-5 Mark III news and rumors

[ijm5012]

Before it disappeared, while there was mention of Hi-Res mode, it said that a tripod was necessary. HHHR seems like it isn’t going to be included.

This camera appears to simply be an E-M1 II with a few small tweaks, put in an E-M5 sized body. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since the E-M1 II is so good, but I think that people were hoping for a bit “more” out of this camera.

 

[drd1135]

The problem is that Olympus isn't putting out bodies at a high rate right not so the EM5 iii carried the expectations for many different cameras.

 

[RichardC]

Darn... too new at this game. I should have taken a screenshot.

Google doesn't seem to have cached it either, although the text summary is stating 6000x4000px maximum resolution.

 

[zanydroid]

The problem is that Olympus isn't putting out bodies at a high rate right not so the EM5 iii carried the expectations for many different cameras.

Yup, compare this to how quickly you can get specs in Fuji or Sony. Especially given how Fuji seems to be burning money on R&D as a public charity to the camera community.

A new photographer could buy an X-H2 for a UX, AF, and IBIS halfway between EM1 and EM1mkII, better IQ, EM1mkII video capability, and a really good price... and pick up an X-T3/T30 in 1 years for a firesale deal b/c of how fast those bodies depreciate... then flip both for the next X-H2 in 3 years which will certainly have both a sensor and processor bump.

And at that point, Olympus will still be on Truepic VIII / 20MP on at least half their cameras.

... no need to ban me for trolling, I'll show myself out

 

[TNcasual]

Yup, compare this to how quickly you can get specs in Fuji or Sony. Especially given how Fuji seems to be burning money on R&D as a public charity to the camera community.

A new photographer could buy an X-H2 for a UX, AF, and IBIS halfway between EM1 and EM1mkII, better IQ, EM1mkII video capability, and a really good price... and pick up an X-T3/T30 in 1 years for a firesale deal b/c of how fast those bodies depreciate... then flip both for the next X-H2 in 3 years which will certainly have both a sensor and processor bump.

And at that point, Olympus will still be on Truepic VIII / 20MP on at least half their cameras.

... no need to ban me for trolling, I'll show myself out

Or we could just go out and shoot pictures with what we have. My E-m5ii isn't going to stop working when the E-M5iii is released.

 

[ijm5012]

Yup, compare this to how quickly you can get specs in Fuji or Sony. Especially given how Fuji seems to be burning money on R&D as a public charity to the camera community.

A new photographer could buy an X-H2 for a UX, AF, and IBIS halfway between EM1 and EM1mkII, better IQ, EM1mkII video capability, and a really good price... and pick up an X-T3/T30 in 1 years for a firesale deal b/c of how fast those bodies depreciate... then flip both for the next X-H2 in 3 years which will certainly have both a sensor and processor bump.

And at that point, Olympus will still be on Truepic VIII / 20MP on at least half their cameras.

... no need to ban me for trolling, I'll show myself out

I mean, you’re not trolling. That’s simply the truth.

The E-M1 IIis a great camera now, but it’s on FW 3.0 and has been out for years now. When it was released, people’s balked at it’s $2k USD price tag, compounded by the lackluster AF performance (based on what the marketeers we’re pushing).

Since then, Olympus released the E-M10 III with less features than the previous version, an E-M1 X at $3k USD, and now the E-M5 III which has simply recycled the E-M1 II’s sensor and processor, pairing it with the E-M10 III’s EVF and a weather sealed plastic body.

People will claim that Olympus isn’t innovating, but what else is there for them to do at this point? Better video? Higher resolution/magnification EVF? HHHR in all the bodies (I still think this is a bit gimmicky IMO)? The E-M1 II is an extremely feature-rich camera even compared to some of the latest and greatest cameras.

 

[MichailK]

It all comes down to $/£/€/¥ vs use/features that is,value - any solid price point announced?

 

[zanydroid]

Or we could just go out and shoot pictures with what we have. My E-m5ii isn't going to stop working when the E-M5iii is released.

I can't do that during certain hours, so chatting about specs is all I have

 

[Holoholo55]

43rumors published the detailed specs.
https://www.43rumors.com/ft5-full-leaked-e-m5iii-specs/

One notable thing. They rate the BLS-50 battery as getting 310 exposures in the III, same as the BLN-1 battery in the II.
And, yes, USB charging too.

 

[Pluttis]

Yup, compare this to how quickly you can get specs in Fuji or Sony. Especially given how Fuji seems to be burning money on R&D as a public charity to the camera community.

A new photographer could buy an X-H2 for a UX, AF, and IBIS halfway between EM1 and EM1mkII, better IQ, EM1mkII video capability, and a really good price... and pick up an X-T3/T30 in 1 years for a firesale deal b/c of how fast those bodies depreciate... then flip both for the next X-H2 in 3 years which will certainly have both a sensor and processor bump.

And at that point, Olympus will still be on Truepic VIII / 20MP on at least half their cameras.

... no need to ban me for trolling, I'll show myself out

To be honest, havent happened that much spec-wise with Sonys A6000 serie between the latest models.

 

[drd1135]

Or we could just go out and shoot pictures with what we have. My E-m5ii isn't going to stop working when the E-M5iii is released.

Oh, dude, haven’t you heard? Olympus is activating the self destruct code at midnight.

 

[zanydroid]

To be honest, havent happened that much spec-wise with Sonys A6000 serie between the latest models.

One generation newer AF (better tracking and eye AF) is the main win with the 6400/6600. They mailed it in with everything else. Sony is the new Canon (as they’ve always dreamed of). Except they also make all the sensors, so even more defensible of a market position.

 

[zanydroid]

People will claim that Olympus isn’t innovating, but what else is there for them to do at this point? Better video? Higher resolution/magnification EVF? HHHR in all the bodies (I still think this is a bit gimmicky IMO)? The E-M1 II is an extremely feature-rich camera even compared to some of the latest and greatest cameras.

I guess the tough question for them is what features will be enough to justify an upgrade? Better video is clearly doable with the bones of the EM1mkII (if they had decided to start that development 1-1.5 years ago), but that might require a slightly bigger body and offend the large photographer user base. Better AF? They could strive for Canon/Sony level of real time eye tracking (though arguably with M43 DOF & style of portraits there's a lot less of a practical need for it). Double down on computational photography / video? Makes sense, they have the blazing 1/60 sensor readout and 60fps RAW, and they dipped their feet in with the EM1X. But I think they picked the wrong strategy with the EM1X; now they can't push the features to lower cameras without offending early adopters, and the fact that the features showed up at an insane price point for M43 meant that most of the mindshare was overshadowed by confusion / complaining about the price point.

Maybe do a EM1mkIII with Truepic VIII, augmented with a new high speed bus to allow streaming more data to external storage for video, and to support a battery grip that has a Truepic VIII or cell phone CPU in it for doing the fancy processing.

... OK, that's just a modular EM1X

 

[drd1135]

I don’t often think of video, but how do the specs look for the EM5 iii? I don’t know enough to judge. I also noticed that 43 Rumors has the wrong sensor resolution (4000x6000) as well:
https://www.43rumors.com/ft5-full-leaked-e-m5iii-specs/

 

[zanydroid]

I don’t often think of video, but how do the specs look for the EM5 iii? I don’t know enough to judge. I also noticed that 43 Rumors has the wrong sensor resolution (4000x6000) as well:
https://www.43rumors.com/ft5-full-leaked-e-m5iii-specs/

That info is probably only 80% accurate...

Did a quick comparison with EM1mkII datasheet, and the only new mode is 1080p120 high frame rate. Possibly not a typo, it's not that unlikely to squeeze in, and could probably make 1000 extra sales to aspiring youtubers obsessed with slow mo B-roll.

Everything else is identical.

Sadness for me are:
- 10 bit nowhere in sight
- the special high bitrate codec is still only in C4k 24p. Somehow 24p never looks right for me.

 

[CyVan]

And so it begins....
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympus-om-d-e-m5-iii-initial-review

 

[Robstar1963]

Robin Wong Review

 

[Lcrunyon]

These specs are pretty much where they reasonably ought to be, and they represent a huge leap from the E-M5 Mkii. It’s an E-M1 Mkii (after firmware 3.0, which was a massive upgrade) in a smaller, lighter body and with the E-M1X USB charging and IBIS at $1200. There may be a few more E-M1X bells and whistles the spec sheet didn’t capture that the announcement will, like perhaps My Menus.

I don’t mean to offend anyone, but I don‘t think that’s anything to complain about. I think a lot of E-M5 owners may not be seeing how much of a difference this will make, and E-M1 owners are still waiting for the next big thing after the overpriced E-M1X. Today’s release really is a fair upgrade from the E-M5 Mkii in IQ, and a huge leap in AF performance, for both stills and video. Of course it isn’t pushing the boundaries of the Olympus system, but that was never going to happen in the mid-tier OM-D. Of course it was never going to have HHHR, because Olympus‘ own words informed us that it technologically couldn’t. All the speculation to the contrary was just wishful thinking.

 

[2donggalbi]

I'm not saying that E-M5III is a bad camera. It is a good camera. I think any camera that you can buy today, either used or new, is a good and capable camera. But the E-M5III announcement is really boring.

I purchased the first E-M5 on the day it was launched. I skipped E-M5II and waited for the E-M5III to be released, with pretty much the specs announced today. The specs are almost exactly what I wanted in a E-M5III. But I have been waiting for the E-M5III for almost two years.

If the E-M5III was announced about a year and a half ago, I think it would have been great. Announced a year ago, still would have been very good. Announced today with these specs, is really boring. Boring announcement but still a great camera, and I like the improved weather sealing.

 

[Lcrunyon]

I'm not saying that E-M5III is a bad camera. It is a good camera. I think any camera that you can buy today, either used or new, is a good and capable camera. But the E-M5III announcement is really boring.

I purchased the first E-M5 on the day it was launched. I skipped E-M5II and waited for the E-M5III to be released, with pretty much the specs announced today. The specs are almost exactly what I wanted in a E-M5III. But I have been waiting for the E-M5III for almost two years.

If the E-M5III was announced about a year and a half ago, I think it would have been great. Announced a year ago, still would have been very good. Announced today with these specs, is really boring. Boring announcement but still a great camera, and I like the improved weather sealing.

I don’t think Olympus had a lot of the AF and gyroscope technology (and perhaps others) a year and a half ago. If it were released then, you wouldn’t be getting nearly as good a camera. In any case, if you are coming from an E-M5 (which was my first camera) then this camera will be such a massive enhancement that I can’t see how it could be thought of as boring. It will be night-and-day different. Maybe you just aren’t interested in m4/3 anymore?