Olympus - OM-D E-M10 Mark II Mirrorless Camera with 14-42mm Lens - Silver

I really enjoy this camera. You can take this anywhere throw on a 25 or 45mm lens and you are set. Great start into the micro four thirds world.

I was looking to upgrade my camera from a Nikon Coolpix P600. The Nikon worked, but I wanted more. More definition, better editing (RAW), more clarity, more options. I did my research and kept coming back to the OM-D E-M10 Mk II. I am sure glad I bought it. Positives: Lightweight - I use the same bag for this camera but have added a great 25mm prime lens. I can hike all day with this around my neck ready to shoot and not realize its there. Fantastic features - the built in Image Stabilization (IS) has paid off in spades already. Shutter say 1/40 no problem, clear as a bell no flash, Less? steady yourself a bit, you're probably okay. Drawback: Menus go on forever - There are some shortcuts, but I am not sure I will ever figure out all the menus. Not a serious issue, since I have have also gotten into post processing, so I shoot everything in RAW and JPEG - which you have to dig into the menus to turn on. But I bet if I mastered the settings my straight JPEGs would be even better, and I could share more without editing. Not weather sealed - In the pacific Northwest you need to be careful to not destroy your camera in the weather. Overall -- . A great camera and a good value. The kit lens has a pretty high minimum f stop, and you can find some pretty good 25 mm primes, with a 1.7 f stop for really good narrow depth of field shots and low light shots. But it is very serviceable, I leave it on most of time. The photos I attached were taken on my first and second hikes with the camera. Its easy to get comfortable with.

I love this camera, but it does come with its own set of challenges. It takes pristine photos. I take photos of dogs and sometimes find drawbacks with catching wiggle worms. The photo's I do get are amazing, however in a shoot of about 40-50 I get maybe 10-15 great photos. I am still learning how to utilize all of the functions.

I wanted something more lightweight and compact for travel and occasional parties. Contemplated on getting this and the sony a6300. This suits better for my application. I would buy a prime lens for this and see how it compares to my d800 setup. So far i am loving it!

DSLRS are great except in bright sunlight. I plan to take this to the Grand Canyon. I have been rehearsing the use of manual focus, reasign a back button for magnify, the front wheel for tweaking the +/- exposure. I can view the scene in the viewfinder in the bright sunlight with assistance of a histogram. It also has dynamic range adjustment. CONS: Difficult menu. Had to modify a spreadsheet from another OMD model to track the Mysets. Created a Gdrive cheat sheet to access from my phone for the Mysets. Retrieving Myset configurations gives different results when retrieved from the menu VS an association on the function wheel. My Myst config summary: OMD E10 ii Mysets Myset 1: Factory Reset Myset 2: Outdoor still. Magnify, HDR, MF, Exp +/- on Front knob Shoot Menu1>Drive Mode>Single CM>TabA>AF Mode>S-af+mf CM>TabA>MFassist>Peaking>On CM>TabA>HomePosition>Center Point CM>TabC>RlsPrioriy>On CM>TabC>Image Stabile Still>S-I.S. Auto CM>TabD>Peaking Color>Red CM>TabE>Metering>CtrWht Myset 3: Outdoor action. AEL/AFL, MULT-F, HDR, REC Shoot Menu1>Drive Mode>Single CM>TabA>AF Mode>C-af CM>TabA>MFassist>Peaking>On CM>TabA>HomePosition>Center Region CM>TabC>RlsPrioriy>On CM>TabC>Image Stabile Still>S-I.S. Auto CM>TabC>Image Stabilization>On CM>TabD>Peaking Color>Red CM>TabE>Metering>CtrWht Myset 4: Indoor. Magnify, Multi-F, 1shotWB, MF Shoot Menu1>Drive Mode>Single CM>TabA>AF Mode>S-af+mf CM>TabA>MFassist>Peaking>On CM>TabA>HomePosition>All Screen CM>TabC>RlsPrioriy>On CM>TabC>Image Stabile Still>S-I.S. Auto CM>TabD>Peaking Color>Red CM>TabE>Metering>dig esp

After many years with film, and my Olympus om-1 by my side, it was hard to make the change. I’m still learning but I love it

Very impressive camera in a small body. It allowes all levels of users to capture top quality shots. Don’t let the smaller sensor size fool you; I have used DSLR’s with 24mp sensors and the image quality has been a great match. One recommendation I would give to Olympus is to offer bigger range lense as an option for the kit (14-150).

I have been shooting with Nikons and Cannon both in Full Frame and dSLR format for the past 9 years. Suffice to say, it becomes cumbersome carrying a large body camera and lens when trying to capture candid moments at events... or even Burning Man. I made the switch to Mirrorless before attending Burning Man this year. Partly because I did not want to sacrifice my "good" camera but I definitely did not want to sacrifice quality shooting. I cannot express how overwhelmingly impressed I am with the quality of photos I gather with the Olympus. I. Am. Sold. #1. The fact it shoots in RAW is great for post edit (watch out LR5 users. the format requires a plugin". #2. It's so unbelievably small and light! I was able to carry it on me without any issues. It's the perfect fusion of point and shoot and SLR when it comes to compactness and features. #3. I'm considering using this over dSLR for all my non-commercial/professional events. I'm shooting at the same level of quality with the Olympus. I've only tried 3 of the Olympus lenses, none of the ones I've used are equal to my 24-70 Nikkor Lens- but who cares when you are just trying to capture the moment without having to lug the big gear! #4. This price point is BETTER THAN BUYING AN ENTRY LEVEL DSLR! Why spend $500 on an "entry level" dslr when this will supercede that. I never thought I'd endorse a mirrorless as a starter camera- but you can do some great work with this Olympus. If it can survive 2 weeks in Black Rock Desert --- this is a solid quality camera.