Reviews |Olympus OM-D E-M1X: price, release date, official specs confirmed

Olympus OM-D E-M1X: price, release date, official specs confirmed

News

Olympus has announced a new Micro Four Thirds camera, the Olympus OM-D E-M1X. It has a price tag of £2,799.99 / $2,999.99 and a release date of February 2019. It will sit alongside the OM-D E-M1 Mark II as a joint flagship camera.

The new camera uses the same 20.4Mp Four Thirds type sensor as the OM-D E-M1 Mark II, but it has two Truepic VIII processing engines instead of just one.

Olympus is claiming the OM-D E-M1X has the World’s best dust-, splash-, and freezeproofing along with the World’s best image stabilisation. The latter offers up to 7.5EV of shutter speed compensation.

The new camera also has a re-developed autofocus system. This includes a selection of target modes and an intelligent subject tracking system that hunts for specific subjects. Olympus has also improved the AF system’s sensitivity and it’s now claimed to operate at -6EV.

Olympus OM-D E-M1X review: Olympus OM-D E-M1X vs OM-D E-M1 II

Left: Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Right Olympus OM-D E-M1 II

Double Grip

With dimensions of W 144.4mm x H 146.8mm x D 75.4mm, the Olympus OM-D E-M1X is significantly larger than the OM-D E-M Mark II.

Some of that additional size can be attributed to the E-M1X’s integral vertical grip which houses two BLH-1 batteries in a cartridge. These are the same battery as the E-M1 Mark II uses. Together they supply enough power for up to 2,580 shots in a single charge.

The extra space on the camera body has allowed for some control changes. As a result, two joysticks have been included on the camera to speed setting the AF point. There’s one joystick for use with each grip.

Olympus OM-D E-M1X review: Olympus OM-D E-M1X vs OM-D E-M1 II

Left: Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Right Olympus OM-D E-M1 II

Speed

In the standard sequential shooting mode, the maximum shooting rate is 15fps. However, the focus is set at the beginning of the sequence. It’s possible to shoot at 10fps with continuous autofocusing.

There’s also Olympus’s Pro Capture mode for shooting stills of very fast action. In the E-M1X this operates with no blackout visible in the viewfinder.

Pro Capture High mode enables images to be shot at up to 60fps (frames per second) but Pro Capture Low mode (18fps) is required for continuous focusing.

An anti-flicker shooting mode can be used to detect the flicker frequency of artificial light and time the shutter to trip at peak brightness. This reduces exposure and colour variation between successive shots.

Handheld High Res Shot Mode

The Olympus E-M1X has two Hi Res Shot modes, Tripod and Handheld. In Tripod mode the camera creates a composite that captures detail equivalent to an 80Mp image. Meanwhile, in Handheld mode, the final image is equivalent to 50Mp.

Olympus has also improved the in-camera Focus Stacking mode by extending the number of composited images to 15. The crop is also indicated in the viewfinder at the shooting stage.

Video

The E-M1X is capable of shooting Cinema 4K (4096 x 2160) video and has a new OM-Log400 mode. This enables a wider range of tones to be recorded.

Full HD footage can be shot at up to 120fps (frames per second).

The 5-axis IS system electronic stabilisation can be used during video recording, and it’s possible to specify the degree of stabilisation that’s applied.

Olympus has incorporated a heat pipe into the OM-D E-M1X to conduct heat away from the sensor for extra reliability.

Live ND Mode

The EM1X features a new Live ND Shooting mode. This allows photographers to select a neutral density filter strength in-camera. There are 5 strengths from 1EV to 5EV, with the latter extending the exposure time by 32x. The impact of the filter is previewed in the viewfinder and on the screen.

Olympus OM-D E-M1X Price & Release Date

The Olympus OM-D E-M1X price tag is £2,799.99 / $2,999.99 with a release date set for late February.

Olympus has also announced a number of dedicated pre-order offers with select retailers in which customers can claim a £200 trade-in discount off the Olympus OM-D E-M1X price.

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