5 Best Olympus Mirrorless Camera – Best for Beginners, Enthusiasts and Professionals

Olympus has been regarded as one of the best developers of micro four-thirds mirrorless cameras. In this article, I will highlight what’s the best Olympus mirrorless camera for you to consider!

In the early stages or during the infancy of the new mirrorless camera system, Olympus braved its way to venture into this so-called new system following Panasonic.

Thus, Olympus became one of the pioneers to have introduced a micro four-thirds system mirrorless camera.

Here are 5 of the Best Olympus Mirrorless Camera

From its elegant vintage retro style that you would normally see from many Olympus mirrorless renderings. To the latest compact mirrorless camera designs…

Below are 5 models to consider especially if you are a devoted Olympus end-user!

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1. Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV

Compact and lightweight design best for beginners. A versatile entry-level mirrorless camera with great features and good quality image capture!

Featured key specs:

TypeMirrorless (with support for interchangeable lens) WiFiYes (built-in)
Lens Mount Micro Four Thirds mountBluetoothYes
SensorMicro Four Thirds (Live MOS sensor)HDMI portYes (micro-HDMI)
Image ProcessorTruePic VIIIUSB portYes
Effective Pixel20.3MPMic portNo
ISO sensitivity200-25600 steps 1/3 (Expanded: 100-25600)Headphone portNo
Burst speed15fpsFlashBuilt-in (support external flash via hot shoe)
Still Image formatJPEG, RAW (12-bit lossless compression), JPEG+RAWStorage mediaSD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II compatible)
Video4K, FHD, HDBatteryBLS-50 Lithium-ion
Video formatMPEG-4, H.264Battery life360 shots (CIPA)
LCD/TFT Monitor3.0” Tilting Touchscreen (1.04M dots)Approx. dimension121.7 x 84.4 x 49.0 mm
View FinderEye-level EVF (2.36M dots)Approx. weight383g (including battery)

Notable reviews:

  • Pros
  1. User friendly menu system
  2. Better 4K video and low light focus
  3. Outstanding ergonomics – good body build, more intuitive controls
  4. Good JPEG image quality
  5. Superb image stabilization
  6. USB charging
  • Cons
  1. Charging stops when camera is ON
  2. Selfie-stick interferes with tilted screen at selfie position

2. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Compact design targeted at enthusiasts and regarded as the best Olympus mirrorless camera for video captures!

Featured key specs:

TypeMirrorless (with support for interchangeable lens) WiFiYes (built-in)
Lens MountMicro Four Thirds mountBluetoothYes
SensorMicro Four Thirds (Live MOS sensor)HDMI portYes (micro-HDMI)
Image ProcessorTruePic VIIIUSB portYes
Effective Pixel20.4MPMic portYes
ISO sensitivity200-25600 steps 1/3 (Expanded: 64-25600)Headphone portNo
Burst speed30fps (Pro Capture H)FlashFL-LM3 External Flash via hot shoe (included)
Still Image formatJPEG, RAW (12-bit lossless compression), JPEG+RAWStorage mediaSD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II compatible)
Video4K, FHD, HDBatteryBLS-50 Lithium-ion
Video formatMPEG-4, H.264Battery life310 shots (CIPA)
LCD/TFT Monitor3.0” vari-angle Touchscreen (1.037M dots)Approx. dimension125.3 x 85.2 x 49.7 mm
View FinderEye-level EVF (2.36M dots)Approx. weight414g (including battery)

Notable reviews:

  • Pros
  1. Good 4K video quality
  2. Outstanding ergonomics – good body build, more intuitive controls
  3. Good JPEG image quality
  4. Superb image stabilization
  5. Weather sealed
  6. USB charging
  • Cons
  1. Charging stops when camera is ON
  2. OM-D E-M1 Mark II is better with dual card slots

3. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

Targeted for enthusiasts and professionals. OM-D E-M1 II is regarded as best for landscape shooting with its high resolution and outstanding image quality captures!

Featured key specs:

TypeMirrorless (with support for interchangeable lens) WiFiYes (built-in)
Lens MountMicro Four Thirds mountBluetoothYes
SensorMicro Four Thirds (Live MOS sensor)HDMI portYes (micro-HDMI)
Image ProcessorTruePic VIIIUSB portYes
Effective Pixel20.4MPMic portYes
ISO sensitivity200-25600 steps 1/3 (Expanded: 64-25600)Headphone portYes
Burst speed60fps (Pro Capture H)FlashFL-LM3 External Flash via hot shoe (included)
Still Image formatJPEG, RAW (12-bit lossless compression), JPEG+RAWStorage mediaDual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I compatible)
Video4K, FHD, HDBatteryBLH-1 Lithium-ion
Video formatMPEG-4, H.264, AVI (Motion JPEG)Battery life440 shots (CIPA)
LCD/TFT Monitor3.0” vari-angle Touchscreen (1.037M dots)Approx. dimension134.1 x 90.9 x 68.9 mm
View FinderEye-level EVF (2.36M dots)Approx. weight574g (including battery)

Notable reviews:

  • Pros
  1. Fast and accurate AF
  2. Outstanding ergonomics – good body build, intuitive controls
  3. Stunning image quality
  4. Superb image stabilization
  5. Weather sealed
  • Cons
  1. Pricey
  2. Only card slot 1 supports UHS-II card

4. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

Considered best for professional photography. OM-D E-M1 III is regarded as best for landscape, wildlife and action shooting with its high resolution and outstanding image quality and video captures!

Featured key specs:

TypeMirrorless (with support for interchangeable lens) WiFiYes (built-in)
Lens MountMicro Four Thirds mountBluetoothYes
SensorMicro Four Thirds (Live MOS sensor)HDMI portYes (micro-HDMI)
Image ProcessorTruePic IXUSB portYes
Effective Pixel20.4MPMic portYes
ISO sensitivity200-25600 steps 1/3 (Expanded: 64-25600)Headphone portYes
Burst speed60fps (Pro Capture H)FlashExternal Flash via hot shoe
Still Image formatJPEG, RAW (12-bit lossless compression), JPEG+RAWStorage mediaDual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I compatible)
Video4K, FHD, HDBatteryBLH-1 Lithium-ion
Video formatMPEG-4, H.264Battery life420 shots (CIPA)
LCD/TFT Monitor3.0” vari-angle Touchscreen (1.037M dots)Approx. dimension134.1 x 90.9 x 68.9 mm
View FinderEye-level EVF (2.36M dots)Approx. weight580g (including battery)

Notable reviews:

  • Pros
  1. Fast face and eye auto-focus
  2. Outstanding ergonomics – good body build, intuitive controls
  3. Compact and lightweight
  4. Stunning image quality
  5. Superb image stabilization
  6. Weather sealed
  7. USB charging
  • Cons
  1. Same old sensor as its predecessor
  2. Only card slot 1 supports UHS-II card
  3. Charging stops when camera is ON

5. Olympus OM-D E-M1X

Aimed at professional and heavy-duty shooters. OM-D E-M1X is regarded as the best Olympus mirrorless camera for action, sports, and wildlife photography!

Featured key specs:

TypeMirrorless (with support for interchangeable lens) WiFiYes (built-in)
Lens MountMicro Four Thirds mountBluetoothYes
SensorMicro Four Thirds (Live MOS sensor)HDMI portYes (micro-HDMI)
Image ProcessorDual TruePic VIIIUSB portYes
Effective Pixel20.4MPMic portYes
ISO sensitivity200-25600 steps 1/3 or 1 EV (Expanded: 64-25600)Headphone portYes
Burst speed60fps (Pro Capture H)FlashExternal Flash via hot shoe
Still Image formatJPEG, RAW (12-bit lossless compression), JPEG+RAWStorage mediaDual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II compatible)
Video4K, FHD, HDBatteryTwo BLH-1 Lithium-ion
Video formatMPEG-4, H.264Battery life870 shots (CIPA)
LCD/TFT Monitor3.0” vari-angle Touchscreen (1.037M dots)Approx. dimension144.4 x 146.8 x 75.4 mm
View FinderEye-level EVF (2.36M dots)Approx. weight997g (including battery)

Notable reviews:

  • Pros
  1. Outstanding ergonomics – good body build with dual grip
  2. Good 4K video and image quality
  3. Superb image stabilization
  4. Weather sealed
  5. USB charging
  • Cons
  1. Expensive Micro Four Thirds camera
  2. Big and heavy for a Micro Four Thirds format
  3. Charging stops when camera is ON

Final Thoughts

The aforementioned models are currently the best Olympus mirrorless camera out there that are versatile enough to perform in a range of shooting conditions!

So, if you are looking for a compact mirrorless camera…

The above models are all capable micro four-thirds cameras (apart from OM-D E-M1X) that are compact and lightweight that comes with great specs at affordable prices.

There you have it folks, once again thank you for reading and if you find this article helpful or you have some questions please leave a comment and I will try to answer them to the best of my knowledge.


About Author - My Mirrorless Cameras

About Rowe Medialdea:

Hi, I’m Rowe, a mirrorless camera and photography enthusiast. We have created this site to be of help (especially to beginners) by producing easy-to-understand content about mirrorless cameras! Welcome to our website!


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