OM-1 Mark II Actual-World Evaluate: Zoo to Avenue

Micro Four Thirds retains getting written off, however the OM System OM-1 Mark II paired with the OM System 50-200mm f/2.8 retains making a case for itself. At round $2,000 for the physique alone, this can be a flagship-level funding, and whether or not it truly delivers on that value is price a critical look.

Coming to you from Bobby Tonelli, this hands-on video places the OM-1 Mark II and 50-200mm f/2.8 by two very totally different real-world situations: a zoo shoot and a crowded Chinatown avenue throughout Lunar New Year celebrations at night time. Tonelli notes immediately {that a} 50-200mm f/2.8 on Micro Four Thirds offers you an equal 100-400mm f/2.8 in full body phrases, which is a genuinely compelling optical argument. The 20-megapixel stacked BSI sensor pushes 50 frames per second with steady autofocus, and the EVF hits 5.76 million dots at a 120 Hz refresh fee. Those aren’t mid-range specs dressed up in advertising language; that is a professional characteristic set.

Subject detection is among the areas Tonelli examines most intently, and his take is measured: animal monitoring is robust, folks monitoring may be very near what you’d get from Sony, Nikon, or Canon, however not fairly there. He discovered it constant sufficient to really feel assured capturing with it, although it often missed. What truly stunned him most was the stabilization. With as much as 8.5 stops of in-body stabilization working alongside the lens’s personal IS, he was in a position to shoot in low mild on Chinatown streets with out the outcomes falling aside. The picture high quality he pulled from these circumstances, and the colours particularly, had been cleaner and extra pure than the Micro Four Thirds popularity would possibly lead you to anticipate.

The 50-200mm f/2.8 itself is compact and lightweight for what it’s, which issues once you’re standing at a zoo enclosure ready for an animal to maneuver, or navigating a packed avenue pageant. Tonelli shot your entire assessment with out the detachable tripod collar and had no points. The lens ships with a full set of bodily controls together with AF/MF switching, IS on/off, focal vary limiters, and a number of operate buttons. The grip on the OM-1 Mark II physique is the one bodily grievance price flagging: if in case you have bigger fingers, the physique alone is tight, and the vertical grip is not at all times simple to supply. The flip-out show is one other level Tonelli takes problem with, arguing {that a} tilting display can be extra sensible for nonetheless capturing. The menu system, whereas improved over the unique OM-1, nonetheless requires a studying curve that may ship most individuals to tutorials earlier than they really feel snug.

Check out the video above for Tonelli’s full pattern photographs, his full breakdown of video limitations, and whether or not he’d truly spend his personal cash on this method.