Lightpainting with EM-5 Mark III
As soon as I received the offer from Olympus to test the new E-M5 Mark III, I didn't hesitate for a moment. I knew that I had some exciting events planned during the testing period where I could give the camera my best shot. This included a long weekend in Amsterdam, where the weather changes every five minutes, a long weekend in Lipno, where the temperatures were below zero °C, workshops in Prague, regular classes at youth centers and of course regular photo shoots during walks, family gatherings etc.
Body
When I learned that the body would be made of plastic instead of some alloy, I was a bit skeptical at first, lest it be a plastic like entry-level cameras from other manufacturers. After I got hold of the camera, I don't feel that it is a cheap plastic at all, but a solid tool that can withstand rough handling. On the other hand, all the rollers are metal and handle very nice and confidently.
The layout of the controls is based on the professional OM-D E-M1 Mark II
The camera travels with me almost daily, I've been abroad on vacation with it and it has never let me down. Several times it got quite wet (me too, of course) in Amsterdam and in the Sumava Mountains we took pictures in -4°C in the evening. I've also had my E-M1 Mark II completely snowed in, and in the summer when it's pollen season and I shoot for a week in the middle of a field and in the woods for training, my camera is half yellow from pollen and half dusty from dirt. There is nothing easier than taking it with a stream of water from the hose and then letting it dry in the sun. The E-M5 Mark III is the same way, I can shoot with it in any conditions without any problem. The fact that the camera won't let me down in all kinds of weather I take for granted and don't even think about it anymore, but it is true that it is a superior feature of Olympus cameras.
No need to worry about the weather
Holding
I don't know how they do it at Olympus, but every camera I've held has fit in my hand in a rather addictive way. These cameras are just a joy to hold, both the E-M1 Mark II with the larger grip and the E-M5 Mark III with the smaller grip. With the E-M5 Mark III, I was initially bothered by the strap holder tab, as the E-M1 Mark II has a tab from the top so it doesn't get in the way. However, after using it for a while, I found a natural finger position so that I am virtually unaware of the tab.
Unique stabilization
From my perspective, Olympus offers the best stabilization on the market. What is normally impossible to shoot handheld on other brands is commonplace on Olympus. The E-M5 Mark III has a built-in five-axis image stabilizer with an effect of up to 5.5 EV.
In practice, this means I'm able to hold still for 3 seconds handheld without a tripod, monopod or leaning against a wall. A typical scene where I'll use the stabilisation is in an evening or night city, when I carry a tripod in my backpack but just don't feel like taking it out. I set my S mode, select 3 seconds, ISO e.g. 400, aperture is calculated. Of course, I can choose full manual mode and set everything up as needed. I stand in place, compose, inhale, exhale and press the shutter. Three seconds seems like an eternity, but after a moment the shutter clicks, I turn on the preview and see a perfectly sharp photo. With the M. Zuiko 12-40 mm F2.8 PRO everything is sharp from corner to corner, with the M. Zuiko 7-14 mm F2.8 PRO it's more of a challenge, but it's still an above average result.
With three cameras at home, I didn't hesitate to try and squeeze the most out of the stabilisation yet.
You can see a small sample of what I shot with a 20 second exposure below. I was even more successful with the new E-M1 Mark III in sharpness, and even at double the time, 40 seconds handheld. It sounds like a minor miracle, but that's how Olympus stabilization works.
Olympus EM-5 mark III, 20 seconds hand held
Lightpainting
Olympus developed special Livetime and Livecomp modes a few years ago as a modern replacement for BULB mode. Both of these modes can be used, for example, for the photographic discipline of lightpainting or photographing the night sky and star movement.
OM-D E-M5 Mark III
Livetime is essentially BULB mode in disguise, except that I press the shutter button at the start of the exposure as standard and the camera keeps shooting until I press the shutter button again to end the exposure. With BULB mode, someone has to hold the shutter release or use a remote shutter release, which one doesn't always have. Livecomp (live composite) mode is a unique mode that only Olympus offers. This feature can essentially lock the exposure time so that the highlights are never overexposed. I mainly use this feature in cities where street lights, shop windows and other light spam are standard.
In BULB or livetime mode, overexposure of these highlights would occur when shooting for several minutes. However, if I choose livecomp mode, set my exposure time to say 2 seconds and start shooting, the camera will not let any longer than just a 2 second exposure pass through the photo, while at the same time it will redraw all other moving lights into the photo. But again, only in the 2 second exposure. The photo itself can then be taken for up to 3 hours (up to 6 hours in the E-M1 Mark III's new mode) in this mode.
Both modes were available in M mode beyond the 60" option, so it was always necessary to scroll with the circular dial. Subsequently, the E-M1 Mark II featured "C" user modes, so I immediately saved my basic settings there. The E-M1X and E-M5 Mark III now have a new B abbreviation on the mode dial that refers directly to these three modes (Bulb, Livetime and Livecomp). In addition to the, for me, brilliant Livetime and Livecomposite features, Olympus also offers another gadget, which is Liveview - careful not to confuse this with Liveview on DLSR, they are not the same thing. In fact, here I'm able to watch the actual creation of the photo during the exposure, which is very useful for some light drawing techniques. Especially if I'm creating a photo that takes more time, typically a camera rotation, I can see pretty much immediately if something has gone wrong, and I can potentially end the exposure and start the whole process again. I won't know until after the whole technique is done, as is common on other cameras. On the other hand, when it's freezing outside and my fingers are numb, every minute saved is good. Plus, this live preview combined with the livecomposite mode is great for shooting night skies and star trails, where the entire progress is written out on the display and I can decide at any time that I'm already happy with the photo.
Overall I am extremely happy with the E-M5 Mark III, it is a small lightweight yet powerful camera with lots of useful features. In one sentence, it's a downsized version of the Mark II, which has been classified as a professional model from the start.