14 DAY TRIAL // After all sort of leaked specs and images bombarded the Web in these last few weeks, Olympus has finally brought forth the OM-D E-M5 retro-looking interchangeable lens camera that uses the company’s own Micro Four Thirds sensor format.
The first thing that one notices when taking a look at the new OM-D is just how much this camera differs from Olympus’ other interchangeable lens solutions released into the PEN-series.
Moving past its design, the crown jewel of the new Olympus E-M5 is its 16 megapixel Live MOS Micro Four Thirds sensor, which comes complete with five-axis image stabilization, allowing it to shift up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonal to compensate for camera movement.
This is paired together with an advanced autofocus system that Olympus says is the “fastest in the world”, while the image sensitivity of the camera ranges from ISO 100 to ISO 25,600.
Moving to the back, we get to see that Olympus has decided to install in the OM-D E-M5 an articulating 3-inch touchscreen that brings tap-to-focus and touch-shoot functionality to this ILC camera.
Burst shooting is said to reach nine-frames-per-second when in single-shot autofocus mode, while moving to continuous autofocus drops this figure to 4.2fps.
This advanced hardware components used by Olympus for the E-M5 also enables 1080i Full HD video recording, with support for the 60i (20Mbps/17Mbps), 60p (17Mbps/13Mbps), and 30p modes.
According to Olympus, the OM-D E-M5 will become available in April this year for $999.99 (body only) in both black and silver.
The ILC camera will also be sold as part of a kit with the 12-50mm or 14-42mm lenses, with pricing set at $1,300 and $1,100 (979 or 829 EUR), respectively.
The camera is compatible with all existing Micro Four Thirds lenses and accessories, but Olympus is also working on releasing a 75mm f/1.8 lens and a splash- and dust-proof 60mm f/2.8 macro, later in 2012.
