The Olympus OM-D series is a series of Micro Four Thirds digital Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras started by Olympus Corporation. Olympus's camera division was acquired by Japan Industrial Partners in 2021 and they will continue the OM-D series in the future.
It is the resuscitation of the OM series from the 1970s and 1980s, implementing the same kind of design language, but equipped with technology that meets the standards of the 2010s, like a digital image sensor or video recording capabilities.
The OM-D series is currently the highest-end line of Olympus cameras, categorized above PEN mirrorless and Stylus point and shoot cameras.
There are three main categories in the OM-D series:
The main difference between them is the ergonomics and the customizability. Most of the features are present all across the OM-D family, but the handling, the durability, and the accessibility of the features differ in favour of the more expensive categories.
Name | Category | Photo resolution | Video resolution | Release date |
---|---|---|---|---|
OM-D E-M5 | Enthusiast | 16 megapixels | 1080p 30 fps | February 2012 |
OM-D E-M1 | Pro | 16 megapixels | 1080p 30 fps | September 2013 |
OM-D E-M10 | Entry-level | 16 megapixels | 1080p 30 fps | January 2014 |
OM-D E-M5 Mark II | Enthusiast | 16 megapixels | 1080p 60 fps | February 2015 |
OM-D E-M10 Mark II | Entry-level | 16 megapixels | 1080p 60 fps | August 2015 |
OM-D E-M1 Mark II | Pro | 20 megapixels | 2160p 30 fps | October 2016 |
OM-D E-M10 Mark III | Entry-level | 16 megapixels | 2160p 30 fps | August 2017 |
OM-D E-M1X | Pro | 20 megapixels | 2160p 30 fps | January 2019 |
OM-D E-M5 Mark III | Enthusiast | 20 megapixels | 2160p 30 fps | October 2019 |
OM-D E-M1 Mark III | Pro | 20 megapixels | 2160p 30 fps | February 2020 |
OM-D E-M10 Mark IV | Entry-level | 20 megapixels | 2160p 30 fps | August 2020 |
The Pen, or PEN series is a brand of Olympus. It was used on analog half-frame compact and SLR models from 1959 until the early 1980s. In 2009, Olympus released the PEN E-P1, a digital mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera, which opened the range of Digital PEN models, which are still sold today. Olympus Corporation's camera division since has been bought by Japan Industrial Partners, and run under the OM Digital Solutions name. They continue to run the Digital PEN series.
The Micro Four Thirds system is a standard released by Olympus and Panasonic in 2008, for the design and development of mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras, camcorders and lenses. Camera bodies are available from Blackmagic, DJI, JVC, Kodak, Olympus, Panasonic, Sharp, and Xiaomi. MFT lenses are produced by Cosina Voigtländer, Kowa, Kodak, Mitakon, Olympus, Panasonic, Samyang, Sharp, Sigma, SLR Magic, Tamron, Tokina, TTArtisan, Veydra, Xiaomi, Laowa, Yongnuo, Zonlai, Lensbaby, Venus Optics and 7artisans amongst others.
The Olympus Pen E-P1 announced on 16 June 2009 is Olympus Corporation's first camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system design standard. The first camera to use the Micro Four Thirds mount was Panasonic's G-1 camera.
A mirrorless camera is a digital camera which, in contrast to DSLRs, does not use a mirror in order to ensure that the image presented to the photographer through the viewfinder is identical to that taken by the camera. They have come to replace DSLRs, which have historically dominated interchangeable lens cameras. Other terms include electronic viewfinder interchangeable lens (EVIL) cameras and compact system cameras (CSCs).
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10 is the sixth digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera introduced that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds System (MFT) system design standard, and the fourth Panasonic model MFT camera. The G10 model was announced concurrently with its more capable sibling, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2, in March 2010.
The Olympus OM-D E-M5, announced in February 2012, is a Micro Four Thirds compact mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. In style and name it references the Olympus OM series of film SLR cameras, but it is not an SLR camera. The successor is the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II.
The Olympus PEN E-PL5, announced on September 17, 2012 is Olympus Corporation's tenth camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system design standard. The E-PL5 succeeds the Olympus PEN E-PL3, and was announced in concert with one other model, the Olympus PEN E-PM2.
The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Micro Four Thirds is Olympus' compact mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera introduced on September 10, 2013. It has built-in on sensor phase detection.
The Olympus PEN E-P5 is a mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera in the micro four thirds system released in October 2013. This is, despite its number, the fourth model in the PEN E-P range. It remained the latest model in the E-P series until the introduction of the E-P7 in the summer of 2021. It includes the same 16 MP sensor as the Olympus OM-D E-M5. The E-P5 comes in three colour schemes; black, silver and white.
The Olympus OM-D E-M10 was the third model in the OM-D series of compact, mirrorless, interchangeable-lens cameras. It is of the Micro Four Thirds type and was introduced in January 2014.
The Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II is a digital interchangeable-lens camera announced in February 2015. It features a new 40-megapixel high-resolution mode that uses sensor shift to generate overlapping 16-megapixel images to then compute a 40-megapixel composite. It is the successor of the Olympus OM-D E-M5. Compared to that earlier model from 2012 and flagship OM-D E-M1 released in 2013, both of which are claimed to have 4 f-stops of shake compensation when shooting handheld, Olympus claims the OM-D E-M5 II can compensate 5 f-stops.
The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II is a digital mirrorless system camera announced by Olympus Corporation on August 25, 2015.
The Olympus PEN-F is a mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera in the Micro Four Thirds system, released in 2016. It is the part of the digital PEN series. The PEN-F pays tribute to the similarly named PEN F half-frame 35mm film SLR camera from 1963.
The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III is a digital mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera released by Olympus Corporation in September 2017.
The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II is a digital mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera released by Olympus Corporation in December 2016. It replaced the Olympus OM-D E-M1, which was introduced in 2013.
The Olympus OM-D E-M1X is a professional mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera announced by Olympus Corporation in January 2019.
The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV is the fourth iteration of the entry-level model in the OM-D series of mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras produced by Olympus. The camera utilizes the micro four-thirds system and was announced on August 4, 2020, and launched on September 18 of the same year.
The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III is the third iteration of the flagship camera in the series of OM-D mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras produced by Olympus on the Micro Four-Thirds system. Released on February 28, 2020, it replaced the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II.
The Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III is the third iteration of the enthusiast-level mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera produced by Olympus on the Micro Four-Thirds system. The camera is the successor to the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and was released on November 15, 2019.