My hope for Micro Four Thirds is waning – OM System's latest travel camera is yet another disappointing upgrade
- OM System's OM-5 II is a modest upgrade of the OM-5
- Available in three colorways, including a limited edition Sand Beige
- Body only price is £1,099 (US / Australia pricing TBC)
I'm a fan of OM System's Micro Four Thirds cameras. They're compact, travel-friendly, compatible with a huge range of superb lenses, deliver incredible image stabilization for easy handheld shooting, plus their computational photography modes are addictively fun.
OM System cameras hit the mark on many fronts. But what they have also hit, it seems, is a ceiling. Case in point – the new OM System OM-5 II. It comes two and a half to three years after the OM-5, but you wouldn't know it – there's so little to differentiate between the two cameras.
That's no bad thing per se, we still rate the OM-5 as a top travel camera. But where Panasonic is adding meaningful improvements to its Micro Four Thirds cameras, especially for video capture in the Lumix GH7 and Lumix G9 II, in the OM-5 II we get USB-C charging, some video color profiles, and a rejigged menu. That's just about it.
I can't say I'm surprised. Ever since OM Digital Solutions acquired Olympus, the most notable updates we've seen in new cameras is OM System rebranding. I was still hoping for something bigger in the OM-5 II, though. If OM System was properly investing in the Micro Four Thirds system, there has been enough time since the acquisition for it to have started introducing new tech.
Instead, what we get is the same 20MP MFT sensor with 5-axis image stabilization, a modest 1.04m-dot touchscreen and run of the mill 2.36m-dot EVF, albeit packaged in a retro and rugged body. The OM-5 II still looks the part, and I'm a fan of the limited edition Sand Beige – it looks fab.
At least the legendary Olympus brand hasn't been killed off altogether, and continues to live on under a new name, because I still believe there's a place for such cameras.
Micro Four Thirds cameras, especially the inherited Olympus design ethos, hit a certain quality / portability sweet spot. I just wish OM System was giving fans a little more to be excited about going forward.
Can we ever expect meaningful upgrades again?
The glass-half-empty types of have preaching a doom and gloom for Mirco Four Thirds for some time now.
'The system isn't dead', comes the response from fans who love what the camera system represents; superb build quality, a wide range of optics for specialist interests such as wildlife, birding and more, all in a lightweight system which weighs a fraction of full-frame.
But the fact remains, perhaps more specifically for OM System rather than Panasonic – we haven't seen any decent updates to its new cameras for years.
If OM System was indeed investing in future MFT cameras, I think we would have started to see it this year. Earlier in the year it launched the OM-3 – the first in a series with a slightly different retro styling. It was a delight to shoot with, but not because of big technological improvements, but because Micro Four Thirds remains a really fun and versatile system to shoot with.
I'm glad MFT is here to stay for another few years until the next update cycle lands. However, at that point I'm slightly concerned that we'll discover the system has sung its final song, to live on only through its fans.
Do you love Micro Four Thirds photography? What do you think of its future? Let me know in the comments below.
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