Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mk III

An upgrade we’ve been eagerly anticipating for a long time

- Rod Lawton

The new OM-D E-M5 Mark III is lighter, sharper and better than the older Mark II version. It has 20 million pixels instead of 16, plus better autofocus and an improved image stabilisation system. That’s a pretty good start!

It’s arrived just after Olympus’s 100-year anniversary and fits between the more novice-orientated Olympus PEN models and OM-D E-M10 Mark III, and the professional OM-D E-M1 Mark II and E-M1X models.

The existing E-M5 Mark II offered a great set of features in a highly compact camera, but its ageing 16MP sensor held it back. The Mark III continues with that compact-yet powerful theme, but with the latest, highest-resolution 20MP MFT sensor.

It’s aimed at real photo enthusiasts and semi-professional photographers and goes head to head with cameras like the Fujifilm X-T30, the upcoming Nikon Z 50 and the Sony Alpha 6400. These are already among the best mirrorless cameras you can buy, so we have high hopes for this one.

Features

There’s a lot of technology built into this camera. Some you’ll find in rival cameras, some you won’t. This is not really designed to be a camera for professionals; nor is it going to qualify as one of the cheapest mirrorless cameras any time soon. But it’s got a magic combination of features, price, performance and size that will instantly appeal to hobbyists and enthusiasts.

The E-M5 Mark III is lighter than its predecessor, yet its weather-sealed construction means it’s dust-, splash and freeze-proof. The autofocus system doesn’t have the most AF points, but the 121 phase-detection on-sensor AF points are all cross-type and cover most of the sensor area.