Olympus E-M1X Review

If you are a regular reader of my blog for more philosophical musings, read no further. This is a technical geeking out overview of a camera. If that’s what you came looking for, read on…

I realise the future of the Olympus marque is uncertain at the moment with the sale of the imaging division to a third party; however, I’m going to assume a best case scenario that the brand will continue under new management and, perhaps, take off in a different direction that hadn’t been considered before. Regardless, the E-M1X exists and someone out there may be considering the purchase of one. I’ve had mine now since May 2019 and have been using it as my main workhorse camera after moving almost wholly over from a full frame Nikon system. In short, I would not look back. Despite a few qualms about minor things, it’s an altogether better setup for my needs. Most of what I'm writing about below applies to the Olympus system as a whole (I have several other bodies that I use in different situations); but little has been written about the E-M1X in particular as I think it was a head-scratcher when it was introduced; consequently it didn’t get much press or many reviews. I debated at the time whether to get it or the E-M1; I ended up going with the X as it did have a few features that the E-M1 didn’t (this has since been mostly remedied by the mkIII version of the E-M1 although the X still has something to say with a couple features and I do prefer the physical configuration of the X for most of what I do). Also, my dealer here in Sydney had a special going that included the pro flash and a 12-40mm lens with the purchase so, in a sense, I got the better body for the same price as the E-M1 (I’ve since added an E-M1 mkII as a backup body as well so can make a fair comparison here as well). I’ve had the camera long enough to make some observations about its use for anyone considering moving to M43 or adding it to his or her kit.

Overall kit size

This, I think, is the major advantage of M43. Upon switching from a full frame system, my whole kit size reduced by more than half. Yes, the body of the E-M1X is nearly the same size as a full frame camera, but if you have more than a couple lenses, the overall kit size reduction is significant. This can’t be overlooked for an event or travel photographer who must constantly schlepp around a variety of lenses to cover different situations. This becomes even more apparent when the smaller and lighter bodies in the system are considered as options. What I would have given when, a decade ago, I was traveling around the world with a heavy camera kit to replace it all with a couple of the E-M1 bodies and a few lenses that could have easily fit in a small bag.

Ergonomics

I’ve used or handled most of the major camera systems and this must be the most comfortable, well balanced body I've ever encountered. This is admittedly, heavily dependent the size of your hands and how you hold your cameras and move with them. But, for me, it’s just about perfect. It’s not so important with the smaller primes (and actually, the body looks slightly comical with some of the truly tiny M43 lenses) but it’s very well balanced with the longer zooms and fast primes. Indeed, the bulbous 7-14mm zoom really only feels comfortable on this body (though I’m assuming it would be a similar balance on the E-M1 if I had the grip attached to the bottom). Otherwise, Olympus have thought out all the buttons and knobs so well they seem like they’ve been placed in the most intuitive positions for ease of use. They’ve taken special care to, as much as possible, mimic the layout in both portrait and landscape orientation so that your muscle memory is the same in both situations. I can’t emphasise enough how very well thought out the design of this body is. The ‘in hand’ experience is beyond what can be conveyed on paper or YouTube. (Though, speaking of YouTube, be sure to watch Chris Eyre Walker’s excellent review of the camera.) It’s ridiculously overbuilt; there is absolutely nothing that hints at cut corners or points to something that one needs to watch out for in order not to damage. I’m not a hard user of my gear but would have no qualms taking this out into extreme environments (where I would no doubt give out before the camera).

Stabilisation

This, again, is the the standout feature in the Olympus system. It both allows one to use lower ISOs in a given situation and longer lenses with sharper results. I leave it active all the time when handheld and can better compose the shot with a live IBIS in the viewfinder. It’s also an uncanny aid when shooting video; I have had multiple occasions where it almost (but not quite) looks like I’m using a gimbal but I’m actually just holding the camera at arms length with the IBIS on. It’s certainly not a vlogging camera but, because of the mass and configuration, it makes for very good video camera handheld.

Battery and Power

The camera uses two batteries in a sled—which is great as that means the batteries are systemically interchangeable with all the pro bodies. However, I do wish they would come out with one large single battery that has even more output and endurance (also that battery might have a built-in USB-C port for charging). As there is no way to swap out one battery at a time, the advantage of having two in the body is a bit moot. Also, and I’m assuming this is something that can be updated in firmware, the camera drains the first battery down to zero then switches to the second. I wish that there was a way to tell the camera to switch batteries at a given percentage before that as repeated total discharges aren't great for the health of the batteries. I have to remember to rotate them or I just otherwise hardy ever use the battery in the #2 position and keep draining the first one down to nothing and recharging (I have six batteries though that I rotate between the E-M1 and the X so hopefully that’s not much of an issue).

Mounting

I immediately add the matching Really Right Stuff Arca plates to my cameras as I want to be able to use the bodies with quick release plates and the RRS plates are formed to integrate with the shape of the body when handheld as well. Also, I’m not a neck strap person and the RRS plates have a loop through for the Camdapter wrist straps (which are the perfect size for this body as well). The RSS plate does add just a slight bit to the height and weight of the body but it’s negligible compared to the usefulness of the mount.

GPS/altimeter metadata

At first I thought this was an extra that I would not have much use for; However, it’s really something to look back at the metadata of my images and see exactly where I was, at what altitude (and you can drill down to get the barometric pressure and all manner of other information as well). I’m sure this is mainly aimed toward people doing scientific research, forensics, industrial surveys or what have you but it’s interesting to have all that data recorded as a matter of course.

The Imaging Sensor

So, here is the big ‘but what about...’ conversation that I’m just completely over. For the record, I had two of the original E-M5 bodies with their 16MP sensors—and they were, wait for it, just fine. Actually, right now, I wouldn’t hesitate if someone called me up tomorrow with the offer to travel round the world on a travel shoot, to put these in a bag and use them for professional work. This has been talked to death but, truly, in almost all situations, one does not need the super high resolution sensors. I wish Olympus would just go off the rails and use some kind of sensor that maybe has a lower resolution but somehow has amazing dynamic range or colour fidelity (which are much more important) and just call foul on the megapixel thing. I do a lot of still life and would much rather have a sensor with a base ISO of 64 that gives me more reach at the lower end than the (currently) impossible call for a small chip that magically gives me a clean image at ISO 25,000. Their optics are superb and deserve to be paired with a unique sensor that offers up something different than just more resolution. Also at work, I have a camera from another manufacturer with a significantly higher MP count that, every time I press the shutter release, gives me files that are 3x the size of my OMD files. That adds up very quickly and I find myself having to cull through a bunch of large files just to save space on the server (this becomes even more of a consideration if you are using cloud-based digital asset management; I’m working mostly from home now and having to send up and down large jobs is tedious even with decently fast internet). I know this would take a re-engineering of the whole internal mechanism of the camera but I wish they would consider a square sensor to take advantage of the full image circle. I started my professional work on Hasselblad and actually prefer a square image; most or all of the optics have ‘wasted’ image area that could be used for a square chip to give a larger range of frame ratios and more imaging area. I would think, if that could be engineered, it might be a second wind for the format...which, of course, they would have to rename to micro1:1 or something but I would think it would be worth a go.

High-Rez Mode

I do use this but not extensively; most of my photography involves people so it’s not applicable in those situations. However, if I’m photographic something static, it does help sometimes to eke out just that little bit more detail (though, again, unless one is greatly enlarging the images, it’s often not worth the extra bit of time and effort to get the larger file. One thing it does do, more so perhaps than getting extra detail, is reduce noise in the image. I don’t know that it would make a difference or what all the computational matters are, but I wish one could turn on a similar mode at much higher ISOs (it’s limited to 1600 right now) just for the sake of reducing noise even if the resolution stayed at the ‘normal’ level.

The Viewfinder

I’m not a huge fan of the viewfinder; I do appreciate the better optics (compared to the E-M1) in it that make for a higher magnification. However, this just magnifies what I think is a rather so-so screen. It does have a high refresh rate which allows for quick movement with no lag or jitters. But I wish they had a display with a more colour depth and resolution. (Also, I know it would add even more to the size of the body, but these displays are advancing much faster than the life of camera bodies; it would be better if they make the viewfinder into a removable module that could be upgraded later or one could choose between viewfinders that were attuned to different needs. A sports shooter might need something different than a landscape photographer). That said, there is nothing particularly wrong with the viewfinder as it is but it’s not the camera’s strong point.

Optics

The lenses are just gorgeous both in build and optics; they are what sell the system for me. They are some of the best designs and builds of any lenses I’ve used (short of Leica M lenses, but that’s a different discussion and price point). However, they are just beautifully made regardless. I have the pro primes and they have the most gorgeous rendering shot wide open; the 17 and 45mm are especially notable.

Further Observations and Comments

• Timecode jam sync: There seems to be all the necessary pro timecode features in the camera except…the whole point of timecode is to sync to other gear. I have a Sound Devices 744T that I use for sound recording; however there doesn't seem to be a way I can jam sync the TC output from the 744T to the camera without having to have an external device like a Tentacle Sync and laying down LTC on one of the audio tracks (it would be really useful to have a firmware update, if this is possible, where I one feed the Ambient TC out from the 744 into one of the audio tracks with a cable adaptor for a moment and jam it that way rather than having to have a separate third party device since it seems to have all the other technology on board.)

• Graphic display: This is a minor thing but, when assigning control functions in the menu, a graphic of the body is displayed on the screen. This is quite helpful either in the heat of the moment when one decides to change something in the field or even just when one can’t quite remember which button is called what.

• Video controls: in video operation, the vertical grip command dials are disabled. One can use the ‘Fn 1/2’ switch to change the operation of the top deck dials but I wonder if the lower dials could be enabled as well (for instance, I’ve set up to have f/stop and exposure compensation on Fn1 and the mic/headphone levels on Fn2; it would be good if, instead of having to click a switch, I could just make the lower dials the volume controls so I could simply reach down and adjust on the fly).

• The HDMI port: Why the small HDMI port—like, really, why! There was all this real estate on the body of the camera and you gave us the smallest HDMI port as an afterthought? You built a camera that can take the most extreme situations and put a little connector in there that’s almost guaranteed to crap out somewhere a thousand kilometres from nowhere. Also, though again I’m hoping this comes in a firmware update, the output from that tiny HDMI is 8bit instead of 10. I’m using this daily in a professional environment, do keying with green screens and need to have the flexibility of that extra colour depth (though, that said, the high bit rate internal recording on the camera is excellent). Update on this October 2020; Olympus and Atomos have recently announced that RAW video recording will soon be available via a firmware update. I will purchase a Ninja V to do this as I think that’s a significant upgrade that bypasses any of the limitations of the lower bit rate internal recordings (and will probably, in some ways, be easier to edit though the files will be larger); still…the tiny HDMI port; alas.

• Additional Fn button assignment: It would be good it we could dedicate a Fn button to flash exposure compensation. I’m often doing events or portraits and want to dip the flash down to fill. On my Nikons this is a dedicated Fn+dial combination but one has to go into the control panel to change on Olympus.

• TTL Control: I’ve also purchased the Profoto TTL remote for the camera. The remote is on 2.4ghz; the camera has a 2.4ghz transceiver built in already for WiFi. PhaseOne cameras can control the Profoto system in-camera. As Olympus apparently have a some level of communication with Profoto, I wonder if the control could be coded into the camera body rather than having to have a separate transmitter?

• More with USB-C: I’m also assuming that much more will come of the USB-C port (I’m already quite chuffed that one can charge the camera through it). It would be good if we could attach SSD drives to either back up files or record directly to external storage. I’m not sure what would be needed with drivers and such but audio support would be welcome as well. For instance, I have the RØDE on camera mic with USB-C; it would be useful if the camera could make a direct digital connection to the mic rather than have to go through A/D conversion.

• Tethering: I shoot tethered a lot for my studio work; I wonder if Olympus are having any conversations with CaptureOne about adding support for the camera tethered? The Olympus tethering app actually isn’t all that bad in itself and one can set Capture one to watch folders but it would still be better to have all the action happening in one application (though this isn't saying much, Olympus have one of the better mobile apps as well; it’s nice to be able to be out shooting an event and then immediately post images to social media).

Conclusion

Those are my general observations; I hope that a mkII version of this camera does emerge as I feel that this body is about 90% ‘there’. Much could be improved in firmware updates as I’m assuming there is still significant untapped power in there with the dual processors and some of my issues with the camera are software and control based. Of course, a lot of the DNA from this camera was brought into the recently introduced E-M1 mkIII. I’m not sure, given the choice between today, that I would still go with the X as the smaller body does basically cover most of my needs; however, when I’m using a camera all day, especially with long lenses, the X is just wonderful to handle (if I were a sports or wedding shooter, there would be no question). I know decisions about the purchase of Olympus gear at the moment might be rather nebulous but I’m hoping that the M43 format itself has a future. It’s a well made tool and fits a variety of needs. Today, I’m going to film a piece to camera for a social media post then use the camera as a webcam for a webinar in the studio—and may also do some copy work of a painting to submit to the National Archive. I can easily segue between each of those scenarios with this camera without having to fuss. For me, that is worth the price of admission and all the other matters that people debate sort of fall by the wayside.

Knobbly Veg

A bit of tabletop experimentation with some fresh chokos from the local market.

Silver Eagle

I was back at Bloodworth Bellamy today after several weeks; thought I’d start back in with something simple (though light painting an object so small has its own challenges). I don’t know the origins of the eagle but it’s sitting on a rusty old mould for baby doll arms which I’ll probably photograph at some other time. Below that is a Japanese sack that was used in the fermentation of rice for sake production.

Recognition Plane

Yesterday, at Bloodworth Bellamy I photographed two ‘recognition planes.’ These are model planes made in in the 1940’s to train spotters to differentiate between civilian and enemy aircraft. This is the venerable Douglas DC-3 Super at 1/72 scale. The DC-3 had to have been the toughest little plane ever made (it’s still my dream to get to fly in one someday before they are all gone). The models are exquisite; someone carefully crafted every curve and line in metal to make the plane exactly to scale. It’s truly a piece of art. More coming soon, might make a series of these if they don’t move too quickly from the shop. He has a number of them but they are apparently extremely rare (these came from the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney).

Still life with Finnish knife

This is my first light painting with the new Olympus E-M1x camera. Other than a few workflow changes, it fits right in to the process I’ve been using for these images. I’m quite pleased with the results; the colour and dynamic range it outputs with this techniques are impressive (it’s quite easy to fry the specular highlights on metal and the white of the garlic for example but this turned out quite well). The knife is an original from the Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala. It’s probably been used to skin reindeer; however, it handled cheese service with great dignity.

The Green Machine

Back in the shop at Bloodworth Bellamy today for a new light painting. I’m putting some of the techniques from my recent workshop with Harold Ross into play. As an aside, the only camera I had at hand that was set up for light painting was my ten year old Nikon D700; it’s nice to know that it’s holding up well after a decade of service and that one doesn’t always have to have the latest gear (that said, the next time I light paint, I’ll be using my new Olympus…so).

Time and Mentorship

I've just spent several days with Harold Ross in Lancaster, Pa. This was my second workshop with Harold as I continue to learn his light painting technique. As I type this, I'm in Charleston, SC with my long-time friend and mentor, J. Nathan Corbitt. I'm, as I grow older, learning to appreciate the value of mentorship over larger spans of time. There is a place for the punctuated moments of 'wise advice' that we receive early in life; but it's another matter to have people who can both observe and speak to one's experiences over time as one is shaped and matured through them. I think it's the same whether we are talking about navigating our daily lives, work, or art. We need mentors, not to set the course or make the decisions, but to act as collectors and observers of our lives as a long-term project. At one time in my life, I searched for a mentor that could tell me what I should do but that's not a healthy expectation (and I can easily spot the stereotypical older man who wants to play the role of a mentor but is essentially looking for converts to his way of thinking). The best mentors are people who are secure enough in their own life experience that they have no need of changing others but, equally, confident enough to share it.

I've been blessed with good mentors and teachers though my life. I don't know that this necessarily means I've always made the best decisions along the way. However, that may not be the point. Some of the wisest people have made rather unwise decisions (one of the best pieces of wisdom I've had from Nathan is 'you never really find out what you want to do; but you will know what you don't want to do again'). You can't learn that if someone is there to simply fill in the blanks for you and navigate every turn. I found this as Harold guided my work over these past days. I've been using the technique over several months since our last time together; however, I had developed some sloppy practice along the way so much of the workshop was just reviewing the previous one and correcting my errant ways. Harold patiently brought me back through the process as we worked on several images together. There was little hint of frustration on his part. It's an involved technique that has taken him years to master; a good mentor has the understanding of the scope of worthwhile work in a person, a project or a piece of art. Also, though he explains and shows how to do the lighting and then post-production in Photoshop, Harold takes care to make sure his students actually do all the work themselves on a final piece (though, full disclosure, there are a couple layers in 'The Titan' above that Harold did for the sake of time as we ended the last day that I will redo myself later). Over coffee one morning, we discussed people who expect a plug-in that can mimic the look of this whole process with the click of a mouse. That is no more possible (or desirable as an artist) than a magic way with which one can solve any given life issue; the whole point is the process itself regardless of how difficult or sometimes painful.

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I learned two things on this piece; one is that wood can take on the appearance of many other natural forms (feathers, scales, rock strata, etc.) depending on how one lights it. Then, also, there are endless puns one can make because of this.

One of the things I'm starting to understand with my photographic work is that, yes, it's important to have a certain volume of practice. However, for me, I'm at a place where it's perhaps more important to have a slow steady studied output where my technique is refined through consideration and rigour. Perhaps that’s a common theme in life and art regardless.

On the two images: Both images are practice pieces pieces to work on specific challenges (textures, metallic surfaces, etc.). The piece of driftwood is only a couple hand lengths across; however, as we worked on it up close, it presented as a vast cliff face (it would be interesting to see it printed large as it could be quite enveloping). 'The Titan' is an artificial hip joint atop an assembly of various bearings and gears balanced on the largest fuse I've ever seen (I think it was something like an 8000 amp fuse). Scale, scope, angle of light and our perceptions…it all takes time and wisdom to shape and understand.

Dancer in Bronze

I’ve uploaded a couple new light paintings to the web gallery. This is a lovely piece at Bloodworth Bellamy (which weighs about 15 kilos; really had to make sure my set was well secured). The dried flowers are Australian natives and the whole thing is sitting on a 100 year old Japanese paper stencil used to dye kimonos.

Here be dragons

Here is another one from Bloodworth Bellamy. It’s already sold but there are so many other things to photograph! This was particularly fun to work on with all the details for light and shadow. (However, I think I’m going to have to consider a computer upgrade at some point. Though I have a decently equipped laptop, once I get to about fifteen layers of uncompressed TIFFs, the processor starts to complain a bit).