OM System OM-5II
1. Introduction
The OM System OM-5 Mark II enters a colossal legacy, inheriting the renowned '5-series' lineage defined by the groundbreaking Olympus OM-D E-M5 and its successors. This in-depth review meticulously examines its technical performance, handling, and extensive feature set to explore whether the Mark II truly upholds its legendary heritage.
2. Design, Engineering and Ergonomics
Design & Build Quality
The OM System OM-5 Mark II is a compact, SLR-styled EVIL camera, weighing just 424g with SD card and battery. Its durable technical polymer body comes in three colors: black, silver, and a special edition sand beige, which I found to be very close to RAL 1035 'Pearl Beige'. During testing, the camera body took a significant impact. This coincidentally revealed its layered polymer construction and, more importantly, highlighted the design's ductility, as the camera sustained no structural damage.
Compared to the Mark I, the new model boasts a significant design overhaul. Its redesigned grip provides excellent ergonomics, even without a dedicated hand grip, and the top plate is sleeker with a more integrated surface. The removal of the 'nooks and crannies' found in its Olympus ancestors reflects a new OM System design language, resulting in a camera body that's easier to clean—perfect for its outdoor positioning. Notably, the body also no longer has a connector port at the bottom.
Ingress Protection
Designed for demanding conditions, the OM-5 Mark II features an IP53 rating for dust and splashproofing. It is also freezeproof down to -10 degrees Celsius, and notably, maintains full functionality well below this specified threshold
Viewfinder
The OM-5 Mark II incorporates a viewfinder identical to the one found in the considerably more expensive OM-3. Its OLED display features 2.36M dots and provides a generous 27mm eye point, crucial for comfortable viewing. With adjustable 35mm-equivalent magnification from 1.23× to 1.37×, it stands out as an exceptionally well-suited option for wearers of glasses.
User Interface
Equipped with the new, predominantly touch-enabled menu system from the flagship OM-1 Mark II, the OM-5 Mark II's user interface offers a significantly refined experience. This, coupled with a new star rating system for captured images and the classic Super Control Panel, ensures the OM-5 Mark II seamlessly integrates with any modern OM System camera body.
Physical controls largely mirror the original OM-5, providing 12 buttons (7 freely configurable), an arrow pad, a lockable mode dial, two control dials, a two-stage shutter button and a function lever offering 2×2 functionality (e.g. remapping control dials from S.S./F-No to WB/ISO). A notable change is the new sub-menu for quick access all computational features (an OM-3 feature), by default mapped to the exposure compensation button relabeled 'CP'. Further enhancements include streamlined viewfinder mode namings, like 'Night Vision', and a new Handheld Assist feature. Overall, this comprehensive overhaul ensures a truly streamlined user experience.
3. Core Performance
Computing Power
The OM-5 Mark II carries over the powerful TruePic IX processor from the OM-5, ensuring consistent high performance. This translates to rapid image playback, immediate input responsiveness, and consistently stable operating system performance.
White Balance and Exposure Metering
The White Balance and Exposure Metering systems have been upgraded, now leveraging an algorithm similar to the one found in the OM-1 Mark II and OM-3. Working in tandem, these systems consistently deliver excellent exposures with accurate colors, even under challenging lighting conditions.
Autofocus
The OM-5 Mark II features a hybrid CDAF and PDAF autofocus system with 121 AF points. It offers the same 62% coverage as the original OM-5, delivering reliable Continuous Autofocus (C-AF) and C-AF + Tracking, alongside precise Single Autofocus (S-AF) and Zoom Frame AF. Extensive testing, including challenging subjects like birds in flight, consistently yielded good results.
Dedicated features such as Starry Sky AF are included, and its Face Detection algorithm performs well. Users will also find the same high level of AF customization as in professional OM System cameras, ensuring versatile performance across various shooting scenarios.
62% AF Coverage
Shutter, Drive System and Buffer
The OM-5 Mark II's drive system provides flexible capture speeds, offering 6fps with the mechanical shutter and 10fps using the electronic shutter. Both modes come complete with full open aperture AF, exposure, and white balance metering. OM System's renowned ProCapture sequential shooting mode further complements these capabilities. For high-speed action, the electronic shutter pushes to 30fps with fixed AF, exposure, and white balance. Impressively, its sensor readout time of less than 1/60s even allows for flash sync at 1/50s with the electronic shutter.
Sequential shooting modes are further complemented by the camera’s extensive buffer, allowing for unlimited RAW capture at up to 10fps, provided a fast UHS-II SD card and image processing set to 'Drive Priority'. Additionally, the drive mode selection screen has been streamlined to align with the designations found in the OM-1 series.
Image Stabilization
Under CIPA testing conditions, the OM-5 Mark II's image stabilization system delivers impressive performance. Its in-body image stabilization (IBIS) provides 6.5 EV steps of compensation, extending to an outstanding 7.5 EV steps when utilizing Sync-IS with a compatible lens. These stabilization figures are consistent with those of the original OM-5.
Power Supply
Powered by the compact BLS-50 battery the camera offers a CIPA-rated life of 310 shots (regular) or 640 shots (with quick sleep mode). For casual travel and street photography, two batteries proved sufficient. Video recording time stands at approximately 60 minutes. While the camera supports convenient USB-C charging, its incompatibility with USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) is crucial to note.
Other
The OM-5 Mark II also incorporates essential maintenance features such as the Super Sonic Wave Filter for effective sensor dust removal. Additionally, it provides Pixel Mapping coupled with an automatic self-check function—all features essential for an outdoor workhorse.
4. Imaging Performance
Imaging Pipeline
The OM-5 Mark II’s imaging performance closely mirrors that of the original OM-5 and OM-D E-M5 III, suggesting the continuation of a unique imaging pipeline. In the shadows, a slightly better blue channel signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is observed, while peak SNR in highlights remains slightly below a value of 7 [log2]. These findings, combined with in-depth analysis of additional data points and technical documents, strongly suggest the OM-5 Mark II almost certainly utilizes the classic Sony IMX272 sensor. This near-legendary sensor is widely believed to be based on an original Olympus development, the IMX270 found in the E-M1 Mark II. In the OM-5 Mark II, it is uniquely paired with the Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) of the E-M5 III and the TruePic IX processor of the E-M1 III to deliver very high image quality, surpassed only by high-end MFT cameras like the OM-1 and OM-3 series.
Dynamic Range
In terms of dynamic range, the camera delivers at least 12 stops with good signal-to-noise ratio until approximately ISO 400. Even at ISO 10,000, it maintains 8 stops of dynamic range, confirming its impressive low-light capabilities.
Signal-To-Noise Ratio
OM-5II SNR at ISO 200
Resolution
With a resolution of 5,184x3,888 pixels (20.16 MP), the camera offers a substantial 70% resolution reserve, well beyond the 6 MP needed for most printing applications. In practice, the OM-5 Mark II delivers sharp results, a benefit likely attributable to its absent or very weak Optical Low Pass Filter (OLPF), which further underscores its excellent resolving power.
6 MP area (white) in relation to the full frame. Red indicates the cropping reserve.
5. Advanced Photographic Features
Just like all contemporary OM System cameras, the OM-5 Mark II offers a comprehensive suite of advanced computational photography features designed to either simplify digital photographic techniques or expand the camera's capabilities.
High Res Shot captures multiple images to produce 50MP images handheld, offering a built-in motion compensation algorithm or an 80MP image when tripod-mounted, utilizing the image stabilization system to shift the sensor between each single capture. Notably, unlike in the OM-3 and OM-1 Mark II, a 14-bit option is not available.
In-camera Focus Stacking capabilities are particularly robust, featuring an algorithm that compensates for extensive camera movement and yields high-quality results, with individual bracketed photos available as backups. Focus Bracketing supports up to 999 shots for post-production stacking. Both modes offer adjustable focus increments and automatic circle of confusion compensation, taking the set f-stop into account for optimal results.
HDR Modes provide both in-camera tone mapping (HDR1/HDR2) and traditional HDR bracketing options. While the OM-5 Mark I utilized the mechanical shutter for these modes, the OM-5 Mark II now employs the electronic shutter. This eliminates the risk of shutter shock, but users should be mindful of potential banding effects under artificial light sources, especially low-quality LEDs.
Live ND simplifies long exposures by simulating up to ND16 (4 stops) of neutral density filtration through in-camera frame averaging, which also greatly reduces image noise.
Live Exposure Modes (Bulb, Time, Composite) are accessible via a dedicated 'B' mode dial position.
Multiple Exposure mode is RAW-enabled and features optional auto gain adjustment.
The Digital Teleconverter offers 2x magnification for stills and 1.4x for movies aided by a potent upscaling algorithm.
Interval Shooting supports up to 999 images as well as in-camera time lapse composition with professional setup options.
Keystone Compensation allows for in-camera digital correction of aberrant lines, saving set values in RAW-EXIF for reference, even though the output itself is non-RAW.
6. Video Capabilities
While often thought of as a tool for still imaging, the OM-5 Mark II also presents robust video capabilities, designed to empower creators with versatile recording options and commendable image quality. My field tests reveal a camera that is genuinely enjoyable for filming, with its sensor contributing to a unique and compelling cinematic look, especially when utilizing the OM-Cinema 1 profile.
Codecs & Resolution (H.264; 8-bit)
C4K (4,096×2,160) Long GOP 24p
4K (3,840×2,160) Long GOP 29.97p
FHD (1,920×1,080) All-Intra 29.97p
FHD (1,920×1,080) Long GOP 59.94p
FHD (1,920×1,080) Long GOP 120p (with slight crop)
Recording Limits / Overheating: None observed.
Image Profiles: Includes Still photography picture modes & Art Filters (some limited to 29.97fps), Flat, OM-Log400, OM-Cinema1 (limited to 60fps), and OM-Cinema2 (limited to 60fps).
Audio: High-Resolution Audio (Stereo linear PCM, 24-bit, 96kHz sampling frequency) via built-in stereo microphone or external microphone-in (with power supply).
HDMI: Output available via HDMI Type D port, with time code support.
The Movie Image Stabilization, when paired with the optional electronic stabilizer, produces exceptionally smooth footage with almost no artifacts or jitter, though it lacks the configurability found in the OM-3/OM-1 series. Recording is comfortable either via the viewfinder or the 3-inch vari-angle swivel-type monitor. Other notable features include vertical video recording and an optional recording lamp.
Two limitations warrant mention: The absence of a zebra pattern overlay making it difficult to precisely judge clipped areas without an external monitor and the inability to output clean C4K or 4K via HDMI when in record mode, suggesting an expectation for in-camera recording.
Conversely, the camera's Webcam Mode is a significant addition, offering plug-and-play 720p (1,280×720) resolution with audio via USB-C, and impressively, provides indefinite power supply during this mode via USB-C, seemingly utilizing a special low-power state.
7. Other Features
Beyond its core capabilities, the OM-5 Mark II includes a range of other notable features designed to enhance usability. These include convenient in-camera RAW editing and the excellent O.I. Share app for seamless image sharing and remote camera control. For remote operation, it offers both a traditional remote control connector and support for the RM-WR1/2 Bluetooth trigger. Flash photography is well-supported by its sophisticated metering system. Additionally, beginner-friendly “Scene” modes and an “Auto” mode simplify operation for less experienced users.
8. Verdict
With its sensible refinements, the OM-5 Mark II stands as a highly capable and dependable camera, excelling for travel, reportage, and adventure. It's a clear recommendation for new users, while also offering compelling reasons for existing OM-5 owners to consider an upgrade.
