OM System OM-5 Review

The OM System OM-5 is an extremely compact, lightweight but durable camera, just like the Olympus E-M5 Mark III before it. Have there been enough upgrades to warrant looking at the latest model? Chris Niccolls checks it out.

Rental equipment provided by The Camera Store

0:00 - Intro
1:04 - Body and handling
2:01 - Ports
3:03 - Menus
3:51 - Burst rates
4:27 - Autofocus
5:45 - Live ND
7:08 - IBIS
7:36 - Handheld Hi-Res
8:11 - Video performance
9:12 - Night photography
10:52 - Who is it for?
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[johnwhiteaway]

I am an Olympus shooter with both Em1 mk3 and EM1x real shame to see that this release of the OM5 has been a lazy incremental update with very little improvement. With the OM1 they moved away from the old eco system of Olympus and that was great but this feels a large step back in terms of moving forward opportunity missed by the new company.

[YannisSinadinos]

The rumours keep confusing people waiting for a mini OM1 and they are complaining for getting mini EM1.3. I really enjoyed EM5.3 so far and will enjoy OM5 as they are great cameras. I loved the designed of EM5.3 and I am happy to see the same retro look. I am will only compain about the missing USB Type C

[loco]

Hi, Chris, and thanks for a very balanced review of this new camera model from OM System. As an owner and user of both the E-M5 Mk III and the OM-1, I think I'm in a position to make some experience based commentary on this camera. I'm just going to throw some things out there in no particular order.
1. Yes, the external body is virtually identical to the E-M5 Mk III. And I love the E-M5 Mk III body. Other people who see it, love the E-M5 Mk III body. I get comments all the time, about how compact and attractive the camera is, how compact the lenses are, and how much it captures the retro look and feel of a film SLR from 30 or 40 years ago.
2. By not spending money on upgrading the USB port or adding a joystick or changing to a larger battery, OM System have brought the camera out for $900. That's based on the current offer of the OM-5 with Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm f/4 PRO Lens, for $1600. The lens alone sells for $700 and is a bargain in that 24-90mm (full frame equivalent) segment which is so popular. Show me another camera selling for $900 right now with the quality, features, practicality, and style of the OM-5.
3. You mentioned some other brands that would be comparable. Having owned a few of the Sony a6xxx cameras, I know that those cameras are ugly little boxes with tiny batteries and the worst ergonomics of any camera I've handled. Despite having a larger APS-C sensor, the a6xxx cameras take inferior photos and they are really unpleasant to use.
4. This camera is, really, an E-M5 Mk IV. If the company was still Olympus, very likely that's what it would be called. And if that were the case, I think the reactions to all the improvements and upgraded features, at the same list price, would be really favorable. Think about the world circumstances when the E-M5 Mk III was released. No chip shortage, no pandemic, no war in Europe, no runaway inflation, no world economic instability, etc. And yet, here we are in 2022 with this improved new model, for the same or less money.
5. I think people should stop being whining complaining haters and look at what OMDS, a new company, has accomplished in two years. A new flagship camera that is so popular that only recently has it been available in stock from retailers. Several really excellent new lenses. A new and effective marketing approach that has clearly defined a group of target buyers for OM System products. And now, a solid upgrade new camera to replace the 3 year old E-M5. Many large, well established electronics firms have done far worse in the past two years.

[arlenspatz]

I have zero interest in buying a new camera but I still love watching these reviews from you guys

[emokia]

I got it today and... OMG... I have Sony A7III, Fuji XS10 and Fuji XH1. But I gotta say... Just IBIS, it hands down beat out all their IBIS. I handheld 2.5s and get 70-80% hit rate. Longest on A7III I can handheld is 0.5s and definitely less than 1s for XS10 and XH2. Ya the sensor is smaller but it has a lot of amazing features that I really like, e.g. handheld high res, live ND and live composite. Live composite is really great for night long exposure photography.
All the cons... are valid but OM system cameras do still offer good features I wish Sony and Fujifilm offer. Having more completed in camera and allows less editing is really a big plus.
So while everyone else is going bigger sensor size, I am going from full frame to apsc and to m43. I still have my a7iii with me cos it's a low light beast. But I am wanting to bring it out less and less.

[normanfranke]

Excellent review. I guess I vote for “legitimate niche camera” since its hard to find a lightweight weather-sealed camera with those features at that price point. Weather sealing usually comes at a premium and certainly the R10 can’t compete on that point.

[donvito]

I love my Olympus gear. The balancing act has been just about perfect for me. One of the bodies I own is the E-M5 II. Although my E-M1 II is clearly the superior model of the two, the E-M5 II is undoubtedly the body I use most often. For me it is just an absolute JOY to use. There is simply a kind of magic in how all of its key attributes come together. One of those attributes, to me, is build quality. My heart breaks knowing that OM Systems has decided to regulate this line of their system to the all too common world of cheap plastic camera materials. The E-M5III and now the OM-5 simply don't have the magic my E-M5 II has. I look forward to upgrading to the OM-1 at some point soon, but I'm disappointed in how the E-M5 line has in some ways 'devolved'. The solidly built little 'powerhouse' camera is no more.

[drtod]

The biggest miss from this camera is not using the new menu system from the OM-1. Using the legacy menu system from the EM-line instead of OM-line sends a mixed signal to consumers on OM technology direction with their products. Perhaps this will be corrected with a firmware update (hopefully). If OM.S reduces their product line to: OM-1, OM-5 & Pen, then the OM-5 product makes sense. The final question is will their be an OM-1x?

[KyleGustafson]

As an OM1 owner, it would be tough to pick this up as a second body. Reverting to the old menu system, lack of usb-c, and lack of subject detection make this feel like I'm not in the new OM ecosystem. To be fair, I shoot mostly birds, so need the bigger grip. Probably wouldn't have purchased it either way.

[williamhumber]

Is the weather resistance actually any different or did they just choose to rate it on this model? If they couldn't be bothered to update the USB port to USB-C I find it really hard to believe they redesigned the weather sealing.

[KarlRock]

I’m a Olympus E-M5 Mark III vlogger. I was hoping to upgrade. Ow well. No point. My E-M5 is in the shop right now because the right channel of the external mic input stopped working. Also the thumb rest has started to peel off. Wish I could go back to Panasonic, but autofocus is important for vlogging. Guess I’ll keep waiting 😢

[herrreinsch]

I'm a big fan of Olympus, because of their color science and the amazing IBIS, but this camera is not the upgrade I was hoping for.

[hoiley]

You guys were too kind, this has to be one of the lowest effort upgrades I can recall seeing... and after almost 3 years!

[mack_solo]

It feels kinda... sad. I thought OM1 was "the transitional" camera, and now OM Systems would sweep us with a new, from the ground up, model of OMnessness. I guess they are in more trouble than I hoped for if this is their offer to the run-up to black friday and Xmas.

[thisdavidlawson]

Micro 4/3rds is such a great format. I went from Micro 4/3rds to APS-C to Full Frame and then back down to APS-C and now Micro 4/3rds again. The size of the camera and the size of the glass is unbeatable in my opinion. The beauty of buying a system like this is you have two brands and lots of glass to choose from. I would definitely get this as a travel camera. Perfect size and good choices of smaller lenses. Too bad they did not knock it out of the park but at least they never shelved this body size.

[TelmanRaoofi]

OM System cameras have a lot of potential that the company ignores. And I don't really understand why. Essentially there is no other camera that's as light, as feature packed. They could really modernize their camera and improve AI which is their stronghold. They could easily make a splash in the market. Though they prefer just to survive. Maybe they're trying just to have someone in the market to have time to build something really good for the next generation.
P.S. I like that they didn't change the body. I think they should be like apple. Don't change the design when you don't need. That way, they can save money and focus on real work (which they didn't).
Hope they make better choices for next one.

[Nierdar]

When the o-m 5iii came out I was thinking they are very lazy. No it looks like they have given up completely. A micro usb port for a $1000+ camera? This package may would have worked for an e-m 10 v for $700. Really looking forward what fuji will bring with it's xt5.

[OldCanadianguy]

I’ve been an Olympus camera fan since getting my OM-10 over 30 years ago (and I still have it along with an OM-1 film camera). I still use these film cameras for the sheer joy of it with their stock 50mm lens.

I also have a pair of good used medium format Bronica film cameras whose lenses I’m in love with.

I bought my OM-D-EM5iii new just before they released the new OM-1. I don’t use video modes or too many other bells and whistles. When I bought the E5iii my goal was to maintain the old school film simplicity but without the cost of film you see. I have some Panasonic AF lens that it came with but my favourite lens to use with the E5iii is my Voigtlander Nokton 25mm F0.9 manual focus prime lens.

My wife wanted the new OM-1 so she uses that. And I compared the two digital cameras in the field side by side.

To be honest I’m glad I got the E5iii and didn't fall for the temptation to reach for the new release of the OM-1. I’m used to the E5iii's menu, the touch and feel of the controls and the shutter behaviour. I didn’t like all of the additional digital bells and whistles they put into the new OM-1 as it just seemed to add needless layers of complexity.

My wife essentially uses her OM-1 as a point and shoot and that’s what works for her. She wants the high performance but with the simplicity of a point and shoot.

[rebelredrabbit]

I had high hopes for this camera, but it's really disappointing that they did not update the sensor. A great review nonetheless, as always!

[markperrins]

In this review, you put more effort into this camera than Om Systems did. You could have simply said, "They put the inner parts of the old EM1 MKIII into the body of the old EM5 MKIII, oh and slightly improved the weather sealing." There, how long did that take? But all credit to you, you managed to produce a detailed 13.45 minute analysis. Thank you for your effort DPReview, try harder OM Systems!