Olympus OM-D Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Olympus rolled out the big numbers for its announcement of the update to its OM-D E-M1 flagship Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera, the OM-D E-M1 Mark II: a new 20.4-megapixel sensor with improved dynamic range, a new Dual Fast autofocus system with 121 phase-detection and 121 contrast-detection points, Cinema 4K/30p video recording, and 18 frames-per-second continuous shooting with autofocus (60fps if you don’t need AF).

The new sensor draws less power and a faster readout speed, though it’s supported by an updated image processor with 8 cores — that’s got to require some extra juice. The processor has updated autofocus algorithms as well, with better subject isolation for tracking. And a new Pro Capture mode starts bursting when you prefocus, keeping the last 14 frames before you take the shot.

It’s the same size as the original E-M1, though it looks a hair more like a dSLR and has a bigger grip plus a new higher capacity battery with faster charging. Dual SD card slots and a battery grip with a dedicated keypad round out the necessities.

Olympus makes some minor updates for the…
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Technically, Olympus considers this a “development announcement,” though that’s probably because there’s no price or availability (“later this year”).

Olympus stresses that the combination of compact size and speed makes it a desirable alternative to APS-C. While I don’t want to diminish the company’s achievement — I think the EM1M2 sounds like a really nice camera with a great feature set — keep in mind that even though it’s the same resolution as competing dSLRs, the APS-C sensor in those cameras is much bigger, they output 14-bit raw files vs. the EM1M2’s 12 bits and they hit higher ISO sensitivities. Plus there’s a lot we don’t know yet about it, including how many shots the buffer can hold, battery life or price.

The announcement also comes with some pro lenses to round out your kit.

Comparative specifications