Should You Upgrade to the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III?

My Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark I is the perfect travel and hiking camera. It’s lightweight with good performance, and I can carry several small lenses without taking a lot of room in my bag. I’ve traveled all over the United States and the world with that camera without having to worry about baggage restrictions.

I didn’t upgrade to the OM-D E-M1 Mark II because I was still really happy with my original E-M1. So, upgrading to the Mark III was an easy decision for me. But if you have the OM-D E-M1 Mark II, should you consider upgrading to the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III?

I did buy the Olympus OM-D E-M1X for the image stabilization and advanced AI features. The OM-D E-M1 Mark III has many of the E-M1X features in a much smaller body. Here are some of these features.

Features of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

Up to 7.5 stops of Image Stabilization. This not only enables hand held low light shots. It enables features like hand held focus stacking and hand held In Camera HDR that I’ve been able to accomplish with the E-M1X
Auto Focus Joystick to quickly and easily change focus points
Dual SD cards
Live ND Mode. This is awesome. Smooth / silky waterfall shots without a tripod or ND filters.
Pro Capture Mode that records frames before you push the shutter button
USB charging via USB-C
Handheld high-res shot

The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III also introduces Starry Sky Autofocus mode for astrophotography that is not on the E-M1X. There are two modes for Starry Sky AF:

Accuracy Priority for use when mounted on a tripod (takes around 10 seconds to focus)
Speed Priority for hand held use (takes 2-3 seconds)

At release, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III is priced at $1,799 which is $200 lower than the release price of the Mark II.

Below are additional specs comparing the Mark I, II, and III.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Series Specification Comparison

Feature	E-M1 Mark I	E-M1 Mark II	E-M1 Mark III
Image Processor	TruePIC VII	TruePIC VIII Dual Quad Core	TruePic IX Quad Core Processors
Megapixels	17 MP	20.4 MP	20.4 MP
Sensor	4/3” Live MOS Sensor	4/3” Live MOS Sensor	4/3” Live MOS Sensor
ISO Range	64 – 25600	64 – 25600	64 – 25600
AF Points	81	121	121
WiFi	Built-in 802.11b/g/n	Built-in 802.11b/g/n	Built-in 802.11ac + Bluetooth
Shutter Frames Per Second Continuous	10 FPS (Mechanical Shutter)	15 FPS (Mechanical Shutter)	15 FPS (Mechanical Shutter)
Shutter Speed	60 – 1/8000 sec	60 – 1/8000 sec	60 – 1/8000 sec
Image Stabilization	4.5 Stops (In Body)	5.5 Stops (In Body). 6.5 Stops with M.Zuiko lenses with IS	7 Stops (In Body). 7.5 Stops with Sync-IS
LCD	3 inch articulated LCD, 1,037,000 screen pixels	3 inch articulated LCD, 1,037,000 screen pixels	3 inch fully articulated LCD, 1,037,000 screen pixels
Weight (incl. Batteries)	17.53 oz / 497 g	20.25 oz / 574 g	20.46 oz / 580 g
Size	130 x 94 x 63mm / 5.13 x 3.68 x 2.48 in.	134 x 91 x 69mm / 9.21 x 3.58 x 2.72 in.	134 x 91 x 69mm / 5.28 x 3.58 x 2.72 in.
Weather Proofing	Advanced (Dust, splash, freeze resistant to -10c)	Advanced (Dust, splash, freeze resistant to -10c)	Dust, Splash and Freezeproof (IPX1 Rated)
Battery	BL-1 lithium-ion	BLH-1 lithium-ion	BLH-1 lithium-ion
Battery Life	350	440	420
Shutter Rating	200,000	200,000	400,000
Other Features	Timelapse Recording, Focus Peaking, In-camera Focus Stacking	4k Video Capture (30/25/24 fps), PRO Capture Lag-Free Electronic Shutter Mode, In-camera Focus Stacking,Dual SD Card Slots	Hand Held High Res Shot, Pro Capture Mode, Dual SD cards, Auto Focus Joystick, USB Charging (USB-C), Live ND Mode

Written by Martin Belan

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