Olympus EM10 Mark III Tests

[CyclingBen]

Hi all,

I got my hands on an Olympus Em10 Mark III based on Andrew's excitement for it, and will do a couple of tests over the next couple of days... here is the first one.  I used a Yashica 50mm lens from Japan and just did a quick test before bed.

https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/u8a1125vop?videoFoam=true

Enjoy

[nigelbb]

Thanks for taking the trouble to post this test footage.

I'm interested in a cheap MFT camera for ultra-wide angle stills with either the Olympus 7-14mmF/2.8L or Panasonic 7-14mm F/4 & you can get a used OM-D E-M1 really cheap nowadays but I am reluctant to buy a camera that doesn't shoot 4K so this could be a contender. That footage is only 1080p & looks a bit soft. Was it shot in 4K or 1080p? or is it the video host that mushed it up? (never heard of Wistia before) 

[CyclingBen]

It was shot in 4K and exported in 1080. I agree it’s pretty soft, I think that is due to the lens.

Wistia is what we use for all our online video and it works awesome and doesn’t do any funky compression. I’ll do some more testing today and try a different lens and export in 4K instead of 1080.

[CyclingBen]

Here is a quick one I shot this morning using a super takumar wide open in 4K

https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/uhffetongo?videoFoam=true

[CyclingBen]

My initial thoughts.

Good:

• The stabilization is fantastic and is only a hair worse than the EM1-Mark II
• Video quality is actually pretty good and on par with the GX85 and G85 in 4K.
• Rolling shutter is better than the X-T2, X-H1 and Sony A7III
• Colors are really nice straight out of the camera if you're in Natural or Muted.  All of the others are way too saturated.

Not so good:

• On the camera PASM dial you cannot shoot 4K in any mode but Movie, and there is a splash screen you have to press 'OK' on before shooting
• The controls aren't customizable:
  • ISO can only be changed by touchscreen once shooting
  • Peaking has to be turned on each time you turn the camera on and has to be set to either the Fn1 or Fn2 button
  • No way to check focus by digitally zooming once shooting, you can zoom in before and start recording but you cannot zoom in or out
• Focus peaking is no where near the EM-1 II or even EM-5 II and is behind Sony and way behind Fuji and Canon

Besides those few annoyances, it's a fun camera to shoot with and I can see us using it as a C camera to get some interesting shots at events and different angles for interviews. 

Personally, this will be a great camera to take to a kids sporting event and get some really nice stabilized video on the compact vintage zoom lenses and not have a bunch of parents asking me to get their kid in a video or photo because it doesn't look professional.  It will also be great to take cycling and get some nice shots of our team during practice and races.

[thebrothersthre3]

Really considering this for my IBIS camera. How much better is the IBIS compared to a GX85 G85, gh5?

[CyclingBen]

Compared to the GH5 it’s maybe 5% to 10% better, really just a little smoother. 

Compared to the 85’s it’s about 25% better with vintage lenses from my limited testing. Way less jumpy and it looks more like you have a crappy gimbal vs having a non-fluid tripod head like on the GX85. I haven’t used the G85 very much, but it’s IBIS was similar (very good) to the GX85.

The additional advantages like the EVF and Olympus colors make it an easy winner over the GX85s poor EVF and overall lackluster colors and charm.

It’s a frustratingly nice camera. If Olympus could add some firmware updates, it could be a THE pocketable video camera to use with compact and vintage lenses.

[PannySVHS]

GX85 4k color graded is a thing of beauty, giving the GH5 a good run especially for the money. Ooc color looks better on the Olympus omds I would say by the videos I have watched so far.