The new Olympus OM-D E-M1X - my thoughts.

In case you have been living under a rock for the last few months, the big buzz around the micro four thirds community (as at January 2019) has been the release of Olympus’s newest camera, the E-M1X.

It seems that everyone has a new opinion about this new camera – and the future it heralds (or destroys) for micro four thirds as a system. Most of the Olympus faithful have embraced this new addition to the family with open arms (not really surprisingly), although there has been the occasional grumble. Most of the raised eyebrows have been over one issue – its size (and therefore weight) for a micro four thirds camera. With its built-in vertical grip housing two batteries, the E-M1X looks remarkably like a Canon EOS 1DX ‘mini-me’. The comparison is only heightened with the use of the 1X moniker.

So is it too big for a micro four thirds camera? Is the comparison with the Canon EOS 1DX fair? And am I excited about the new E-M1X?

First things first; is it too big for a micro four thirds camera? At almost 147mm high and 144mm wide, and with a weight of just 3 grams shy of 1kg (with batteries and an SD card included), I guess you could argue that it’s a tad big for a ‘micro’ system. But in reality, it all depends on how you like your cameras. I have argued for a very long time that Olympus’s micro four thirds offerings have actually been too small, even for someone like me with relatively small hands. I find the Pen cameras especially difficult to use comfortably, while I always attach a battery grip to my E-M cameras. In fact, I wouldn’t buy a micro four thirds camera to use as my main body if I couldn’t attach a battery grip. It has nothing to do with battery life, and all to do with ergonomics. So for me – no, the E-M1X isn’t ‘too big’ for a camera, micro four thirds or otherwise.

Camera comparison - from camerasize.com

In terms of the weight issue, let’s also put that into perspective. If we continue the Canon EOS 1DX comparison, the Olympus is 35% lighter than the 1.5kg Canon body. But things get even more enlightening when we start adding lenses. The Olympus E-M1X is being marketed as an ideal sports and wildlife camera (more on that later). What lenses do sports and wildlife photographers use most often? That’s right – super telephoto. At the moment, the longest lens Olympus has for the E-M1X is the 300mm f4 Pro (600mm f4 full-frame equivalent field of view). This will change in 2020 with the announcement recently of a 150-400mm f4.5 lens with built in 1.25x teleconverter (to increase the field of view out to an incredible 1000mm)! But that’s for the future. For now, we have the 300mm f4 Pro.

Cameras with lenses - from camerasize.com

If we compare the Olympus with the 300mm f4 Pro, with the Canon equivalent 600mm f4 L lens, the weight/size/cost argument becomes blatantly obvious in favor of micro four thirds. The Canon 1DX II with Canon 600mm f4 L lens attached is a whopping 5.4kgs, and costs an equally eye-watering $27,500NZ (as of 8.02.2019) as a total package! Ouch! The Olympus E-M1X, in comparison, has a total weight of 2.4kgs – less than half that of the Canon equivalent – and costs $8,800NZ in total. And do we really need to mention the size advantage anymore? The Olympus combo is actually hand-holdable – comfortably – especially with Olympus’s world-leading ibis (in body image stabilization). Try hand-holding the Canon combo for half an hour and getting sharp shots with it!

Maybe we should be comparing Apples with Apples instead? Ok, let’s look at Panasonic – the other micro four thirds partner. The Panasonic GH5 – with battery grip – weighs slightly more than the E-M1X, at 1.04kgs, yet nobody complains about the size and weight of the GH5. Ok, you can shave that down to 725 grams if you take the battery grip off. But if I had the GH5, I guarantee that the battery grip would be attached 99.9% of the time (I’m not a video guy).

So what about the Canon EOS 1DX comparison? Is it a fair comparison to make in terms of matching the two cameras spec for spec? Maybe. Maybe not. But I don’t really think that’s the point of the E-M1X. Much like the Nikon Z6 and Z7 cameras were released for Nikon shooters looking to go mirrorless, the Olympus E-M1X was released for the Olympus faithful – not necessarily to tempt Canon (or Nikon) users away from their own systems. Despite what many camera reviewers would have you believe, there is a large section of professional photographers using Olympus micro four thirds as their main camera system. The E-M1X is the camera for them. When they get these cameras in their hands, attach the 300mm f4 Pro, and actually start using them at sports events and for shooting wildlife, that’s when people using other systems will become curious. And on that note – please trust me – the smaller sensor on the E-M1X is NOT an issue. The 20MP sensor is more than capable of producing clean images at higher ISO’s, and you CAN get blurry backgrounds using smaller sensors. Get over it people!

E-M1X with M.Zuiko 40-150mm f2.8 Pro. Image: Olympus website.

Finally, am I excited about the new E-M1X? Does a bear you-know-what in the woods? Of course I am! I’m not a professional photographer, and I don’t shoot a lot of sports and/or wildlife. But in many, many ways, the E-M1X is the micro four thirds camera I’ve been waiting for since I got into the system. When I heard early on this it was likely to have a built-in vertical grip I wasn’t concerned or alarmed like many others – I was ecstatic!

I’m a landscape photographer (predominantly), and even for me, the E-M1X has many advantages that has me gagging to own the camera. Hand-held hi-res shot for one. When Olympus first introduced hi-res mode on the E-M5 MkII many people said ‘great, but if only it could be done hand-held’. Enter the E-M1X. The 20MP sensor, while not new, is certainly an upgrade to my E-M1’s 16MP, so I’ll take it. And for us landscape photographers, the new live ND filter simulation mode looks very exciting. To top it all off, its weather sealing is off the chart better than any other camera ever made, as is the ibis.

Yet in the end, what it all comes down to for us non-professionals is the bottom line – the cost. Alas, I feel that the E-M1X is a camera I will probably never own. At over $5,100NZ body only at time of release, it’s a camera I can neither afford, not justify affording. ‘Sigh’. And I thought the E-M1 MkII was expensive!?

Maybe, just maybe, in ten years’ time, when they are up to the E-M1X Mk3 or 4, I might find a used Mk1 that I can afford? Or maybe I’ll win the Lottery in the meantime (better buy a ticket then)? Lottery winning aside, the E-M1X is a camera that I will have to lust after from afar. And lust I will…