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Update (14 May 2018): Olympus has launched version 1.1 firmware update for E-M10 Mark III, enabling RC Mode (wireless flash TTL).

Olympus just launched a new camera in their OM-D series – the E-M10 Mark III. I personally own an E-M10 Mark II that was launched 2 years ago and have found it to be an extremely reliable and versatile camera to work with. The new and third iteration of the E-M10 comes with a few feature upgrades and improvements. In this article I shall review the OM-D E-M10 Mark III’s performance based on my own experience.

Some quick disclaimers before we dive in further. I am no longer an Olympus employee – this review was done independently. The OM-D E-M10 Mark III was on loan from Olympus Malaysia solely for review purposes. This is a user experience based review, so my findings and conclusions are subjective. All images were shot in RAW, and processed through an early version of Olympus Viewer 3 which fully supported the E-M10 Mark III. You may view the sample images with the full EXIF info in the Google Photos gallery here.

Comparing the E-M10 Mark II and E-M10 Mark III side by side, it is quite difficult to tell the difference between the two. The design, size and overall layout of the controls and buttons are almost identical. The biggest difference visually is the shape of the hand-grip, where the new E-M10 Mark III is slightly beefier and noticeably curved in shape.

Top: E-M10 Mark III, Bottom: E-M10 Mark II

Here are some highlights of the E-M10 Mark III’s specifications:

Same 16MP image sensor, but with updated processor Truepic 8, the same processor used in E-M1 Mark II

5-Axis Image Stabilization, with slight improvements

UHD 4K video capture (3820 x 2160 resolution)

121 AF points from E-M1 Mark II, instead of 81 points from E-M10 Mark II

New Cluster AF points selection, similar to E-M1 Mark II, but limited to only S-AF, and does not work in C-AF mode

Autofocus is contrast detect only, hence no improvement in C-AF tracking mode

Same built in EVF and Touch-AF LCD screen as the older E-M10 Mark II

Slightly reworked and simplified menu and shortcuts

For full specifications of the E-M10 Mark III, you may visit the official product page here.

The first torture test I put the E-M10 Mark III through was the autofocus performance while shooting sports. Coincidentally, the 29th SEA (South East Asian) Games was taking place in my own backyard so I brought along the E-M10 Mark III with M.Zuiko 300mm F4 IS Pro to shoot tennis. I wanted to test how quickly and accurately the newly included Cluster AF points worked for fast moving subjects. I acknowledge that Cluster AF is not exactly a new thing in the camera world, and can be found in many DSLR or mirrorless ILC cameras. The question here was how effectively can the Cluster AF perform?



Video showing the Cluster AF in action while shooting a tennis game.

I activated the Cluster AF, which only works in Single-AF mode, and not with C-AF mode. Since I had to rely on S-AF, I needed to quickly refocus (half-pressing the shutter button) each time the subject moved or changed position. Following the subject with the 300mm lens was not an issue, thanks to the effective IS on the lens that stabilized my view through the EVF. The Cluster AF did a splendid job in rapidly locating the tennis player and achieving accurate focus with about 80% hit rate. I instantaneously pressed the shutter button after I heard the confirmation AF beep to make sure the focus was still on the subject as the shot was being captured. As the subject continued to moved, I followed the movement and repeated the process of half-pressing the shutter button to acquire focus before image capture.

I also shot tennis with the predecessor, E-M10 Mark II not too long ago, and I can confirm that I am more confident using the E-M10 Mark III’s autofocus. The main problem with the E-M10 Mark II was the use of single point AF, and this proved difficult when the tennis player was all over the place. If the focus point was placed exactly where the subject was, the AF worked perfectly. Unfortunately, the movement of tennis players is erratic and most of the time, off-center. The new Cluster AF helps in mitigating the need to worry about the position of the focusing point.



I don’t see much difference in terms of image quality output from the E-M10 Mark III in comparison to the E-M10 Mark II. The 16MP image sensor is seriously getting old, and I wish Olympus had decided to include the 20MP image sensor from the E-M1 Mark II. Why not? We deserve updated camera performance and not having to rely on the old sensor for so many generations of cameras (third generation now)!

If you are shooting JPEG, you will benefit from the new Truepic 8 image processor, which is in the E-M1 Mark II. The straight out of camera JPEG files are very good, with optimized details and sharpness, respectable high ISO noise control, excellent color reproduction and optimized lens flaw corrections (chromatic aberration, corner shading, barrel distortion, etc). Also the Truepic 8 sharpening is a tad less aggressive than the Truepic 7, rendering image files with less compression and sharpening artifacts.

However, if you are shooting RAW, you’re unlikely to find much, if any, improvement over what the E-M10 Mark II can achieve. Having said that, the new E-M10 Mark III does deliver pleasantly sharp images with (in my opinion) true to life colors. The skin tone is generally balanced and natural looking. Dynamic range may pose a problem while shooting in extremely harsh conditions, and it is best to avoid super high ISO. For shooting images with low ISO, under good light, I have my friend Carmen to thank for agreeing to model for me. Under natural, abundant light, using a sharp prime lens such as 45mm F1.8 or 75mm F1.8, the E-M10 Mark III can produce remarkable results.

The biggest complaint I have with the E-M10 Mark III, is the omission of the wireless flash RC mode. This was the first Micro Four Thirds camera from Olympus that does not have the wireless RC mode. I have come to rely on the wireless flash significantly for my insect macro work. If you want to have TTL wireless flash, you have to opt for third party radio triggers.

My workaround for not having wireless TTL capability was to use manual wireless flash. The Olympus external flash units can be set to slave mode and triggered by another flash. I used the pop up flash on the E-M10 Mark III, dialed down the power manually to the minimum, as my wireless trigger. I can then place the external flash wirelessly off camera, with the need to frequently adjust the power of the flash, which was cumbersome and annoying.

I don’t understand why Olympus would remove such a useful, powerful feature built into their cameras all these years. While not many people may use the wireless flash, it is still a great feature to have when you decide to get creative with multiple off camera flashes!

The handling of the E-M10 Mark III is very good. The newly improved design of the hand-grip on the camera allows for a more secure grip and is an improvement over the E-M10 Mark II.

On the other hand, I wasn’t happy to find out that Olympus has excluded any external grip for the E-M10 Mark III. Both E-M10 and E-M10 Mark II had an option to attach an external camera grip to better counter balance bigger and heavier lenses. The additional height and gripping area from the external camera grip also helped for steadier and more comfortable hand-holding, especially for shooting long hours. Not having the external grip was a step backward in my opinion, and I have never used my E-M10 Mark II without the grip attachment on it.

It was no surprise that shooting the tennis games at Sea Games with a 300mm F4 IS PRO was not easy, and more difficult than it should have been. Using other lenses such as 60mm F2.8 Macro, the assortment of prime lenses and 12-40mm F2.8 PRO was not an issue at all.

The single, most unique and effective feature on the Olympus OM-D camera has to be the 5-Axis Image Stabilization. Previously with the E-M10 Mark II, I have always felt that the 5-Axis IS was not as powerful as the one in E-M5 Mark II or E-M1. On the E-M10 Mark II, I was able to hand-hold a wide angle shot (14mm or wider) at maybe half a second, and never have I successfully capture anything blur-free at slower shutter speed. I can confidently hand-hold about 1-2 seconds with wide angle lens on the E-M5 Mark II and E-M1.

I was surprised to discover that I can now achieve similar image stabilization effectiveness on the E-M10 Mark III. I managed a 1 second hand-held exposure with a 25mm lens, and 2 seconds hand-held with the 7-14mm lens at the 14mm end. While a tripod is always the recommended solution for low shutter speeds, it’s nice to have the option in an emergency.

1 second shutter speed, hand-held, 25mm F1.8 lens

1/8th second shutter speed, hand-held, 7-14mm F2.8 lens, at 7mm

2 seconds shutter speed, 7-14mm F2.8 lens, at 14mm

Olympus has reworked their menu and shortcuts in the E-M10 Mark III. The format of the menu now resembles the E-M1 Mark II, but simpler. For example, instead of having 5 different settings for image stabilization (Off, S-IS-Auto, S-IS-1, S-IS-2, S-IS-3), now you can simply turn it On or Off. There is no longer Live View Boost 2, which enabled the camera to see in near complete darkness situation, and you can only turn Live View On or Off. The customizeable buttons on the camera also have been stripped down to bare minimum, the number of assignable functions have been reduced, with no options to use the function buttons for important settings such as metering modes and ISO/WB controls. The red video record button is now noncustomizeable.

The arrow pads on the camera now are assigned to shortcuts at all times, and cannot be customized otherwise. The ISO, flash and timer/burst modes are accessible via the arrow pad shortcuts. I am used to pressing any arrow pad to activate the focusing points; hence I encountered many unwanted changes in settings shooting with this camera. I am sure after using this for a while, muscle memory will kick in but I do treasure the flexibility of being able to assign the arrow pads to direct quick access to focusing points, like they used to.

There is now an “Advanced Photo” mode (AP) at the mode dial, once activated, will bring up all the advanced features of the camera, such as Live Composite, Live Time, Keystone Compensation, HDR mode, Bracketing, Multi-Exposure, Silent Mode, etc. The simplification of the menu and custom buttons can only mean one thing: Olympus is targeting the E-M10 Mark III at beginners to photography.

The direct shortcuts to ISO, timer/burst settings and flash on the arrow pads.

One of the highlights of the E-M10 Mark III, is the ability to record video up to UHD 4K resolution. I am not a videographer, hence I shall not comment much on the video capabilities of the E-M10 Mark III. I have a short video clip compilation of the 4K samples taken with the E-M10 Mark III. From the sample tests, the 5-Axis image stabilization worked well with the UHD 4K video shooting, mitigating the need for additional video support systems, if the movement of the camera is minimal and controlled. The dynamic range of the scene was rather limited and I am sure not having an audio jack line in for an external microphone will be an issue for many. Olympus should not have skimmed through this feature. What is the point of having 4K video if you do not have the ability to record good quality audio?

Sample video clips taken with E-M10 Mark III with UHD 4K resolution.

Here are some high ISO sample images, all shot with 40-150mm f2.8 PRO lens, at ISO6400. The Truepic 8 engine did an excellent job in balancing the details and high ISO noise. While the grain is visible in the images, especially in the shadow regions, they were not intrusive, and the overall color and contrast of the images is well preserved.

My final thoughts on the E-M10 Mark III?

It is a reliable Micro Four Thirds camera that can deliver great results, but it does not particularly excel at anything. It is not the class leader when it comes to image quality, autofocus speed or any other specific imaging feature. Having said that, it is also a camera aimed at newcomers to photography, or pro photographers and hobbyists who want to carry a second camera system with minimal footprint. The camera won’t disappoint you, and can perform respectably well, even under the severe torture tests that I put it through.

The Cluster AF, though limited to S-AF operation only, worked well in nailing difficult fast moving shots. I was impressed by the improvement in the 5-Axis Image Stabilization system, providing more confidence in getting the shot at dangerously low shutter speeds. I am generally satisfied with the overall image quality, with pleasingly sharp and detailed images with true to life color rendering. Handling on the camera was improved and I was comfortable shooting with the E-M10 Mark III for long hours except for longer lenses of course (4 hours at a stretch, at the tennis games). Shooting with the E-M10 Mark III was very much like using the E-M10 Mark II, with better AF, improved Image Stabilization, 4K video and improved handling.

Olympus should update their image sensor to the new 20MP one, instead of using the 16MP image sensor from their older cameras. I do not see much or any improvement in terms of image quality over the E-M10 Mark II. I am disappointed with the omission of wireless TTL flash support in the camera (firmware version 1.1 has been released with patch enabling the wireless TTL flash), and no availability of external grip attachment. The reworked menu and shortcuts could have been better improved.

If you need high performance and the best image quality that Micro Four Thirds can offer, you may want to look at the E-M1 Mark II, or the Panasonic GH5. Excluding challenging and extremely demanding shooting circumstances, the E-M10 Mark III is a fun everyday camera that hobbyists and anyone can surely enjoy using, while getting great straight out of the camera results.

The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III is available from B&H

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