OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II Camera Review

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II is relatively portable compared to most full-frame cameras despite being on the heavier and bulkier side for a Micro Four Thirds model. But given its more rugged exterior, it isn't bad. That also means it won't feel too imbalanced when paired with larger telephoto lenses.

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II has excellent build quality. Like its predecessor, it's thoroughly weather-sealed, with an IP53 rating that protects it against dust and spraying water. The manufacturer also advertises that the camera is freezeproof down to -10°C (14°F). That means you don't have to worry too much about shooting in rainy or snowy conditions.

The body itself feels well-built and is made of magnesium alloy. All of the ports and inputs are sealed and covered securely, with locking hinged doors for the battery compartment on the bottom and the SD card compartment on the side. The buttons and the joystick are made of plastic, so they feel a bit slippery, though both the D-pad and joystick are textured. The buttons, including the shutter button, also feel a bit mushy to press. The biggest difference in build quality and design from the OM SYSTEM OM-1 is that the control dials are now rubberized rather than made of hard plastic, which offers a little more grip and control, especially if you're shooting in wetter conditions or wearing gloves.

• Sensor cap
• Viewfinder eyecup
• Hot shoe cover
• 1x BLX-1 battery
• AC adapter
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• Olympus FL-LM3 flash
• Flash storage pouch
• Shoulder strap
• User manual

The camera has excellent ergonomics. It handles almost identically to the OM SYSTEM OM-1, with a large, comfortable hand grip and thumb rest. The grip around the camera is well-textured and provides a secure hold. The buttons are well-placed for the most part, though some design choices, like having the menu button on the left side and having it double as the back button, make it a bit harder to navigate through settings since the menu isn't navigable through the touchscreen. Those with smaller hands might also have difficulty reaching all of the buttons without adjusting their grip. Overall, the ergonomics are great, but the camera has its quirks.

The viewfinder has a remarkably high resolution, offering a clear view of your subjects. It's also quite large and comfortable to shoot with.

The OM-1 Mark II has a large fully-articulated screen. The screen mechanism feels very solid, and the high resolution makes it easy to review your images with relative accuracy and clarity. That said, its touch functionality is somewhat limited; you can't use the screen to navigate through the main settings menu, for instance. It can, however, be used to select options in the quick menu and adjust your exposure settings, though other settings can only be adjusted by turning the dials. You can also use the touchscreen to select focus points or as a touch shutter.

The menu system is the same one found on the OM SYSTEM OM-1, which represents a step up from older Olympus menus. The tabs are more clearly organized, with better naming and a fairly intuitive layout. There are a lot of settings and customization options, but it doesn't feel overwhelming or confusing. There's also a useful help function, which explains certain settings when you press the 'Info' button. Plus, there's always the quick menu, which gives you access to frequently used settings.

That said, one quirk we encountered is that the monitor doesn't indicate when the camera is set to slow or fast motion, as you can see here.

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II uses a 20.4 MP Micro Four Thirds sensor. While it uses the same TruePic X processor as the OM SYSTEM OM-1, OM SYSTEM also advertises that they've increased the on-board memory, allowing for improvements like a larger image buffer.

While the OM-1 includes a digital 'Live ND' neutral density filter mode, the Mark II improves upon it with an additional EV stop, allowing you to set it up to ND128 (7 stops). On top of that, there's a new 'Live GND' mode, which simulates a graduated ND filter with three settings: ND2, ND4, and ND8 (1-3 stops). You can set it to have a soft, medium, or hard gradient, set the midpoint, and rotate your gradient. This is super useful if you want to even out the exposure for a landscape with a bright sky and a darker foreground. You can see an example of the 'Live GND' filter, set to ND8 with a soft gradient here, compared to a standard image of the same scene here.

Like the OM-1, the camera also includes a 'High-Res Shot' mode, which uses the IBIS system to capture multiple frames while shifting the pixels incrementally, then combines them into one higher-resolution image. However, it now captures these files in 14-bit RAW, as opposed to 12-bit, offering the capacity for greater dynamic range. There's a 'Handheld' setting that captures images of up to 50 MP (sample image here) and a 'Tripod' setting that captures images of up to 80 MP (sample image here) but requires a tripod.

The camera's overall battery performance is fantastic. It's CIPA-rated for 520 shots on a full charge, which is excellent for a mirrorless model. In its 'Quick Sleep' energy-saving mode, it has a CIPA rating of 1100 shots. Of course, CIPA ratings don't necessarily reflect real-world usage, so your battery life will vary depending on how you use your camera.

The camera is remarkably efficient in video mode, lasting over three hours of continuous 4k video recording. If you need to extend the battery life even further, it also supports external power delivery via USB-C. Note that to enable power delivery, you have to actually select the option in a pop-up menu that appears when the camera is connected to an external power supply.

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II has a wide range of continuous shooting options. It shoots at a respectably fast max mechanical burst rate, but where it really shines, enabled by its stacked sensor, is in its electronic burst mode. At the max 120 fps, you're locked into AF-S, so that setting is less suitable for tracking subjects moving towards or away from you, but it works well if you need to capture a brief but comprehensive burst of a particular, fleeting moment, like a bird feeding its young. There are also 25 fps and 50 fps options, which allow for AF-C with subject tracking, depending on the lens. That being said, though the stacked sensor allows for a faster readout speed, there's still a chance of encountering rolling shutter artifacts when using the electronic shutter.

As for the buffer, OM SYSTEM advertises that the buffer size has doubled from the OM SYSTEM OM-1 and that largely tracks with our testing. We couldn't fill the buffer after 30 seconds of continuous shooting using the mechanical shutter at 10 fps. However, the buffer did fill up at the 31s mark after shooting 293 RAW frames, so in most situations, you won't ever have to worry about filling it. If you shoot in JPEG, you're unlikely to fill up the buffer within a reasonable timeframe, if at all.

Like its predecessors, the OM-1 Mark II also has a 'Pro Capture' mode that begins burst shooting with a half-press of the shutter but only saves the burst, going back a pre-set number of frames, once you press all the way. This ensures you won't miss a critical moment and is especially handy for wildlife and bird photographers, who often have to wait for the moment of action, like when a bird takes off in flight. The added buffer size comes in handy here, giving you some more leeway to record more frames in anticipation of your subject's movement.

Unfortunately, all that continuous shooting power comes with a downside, and that's how long it takes to empty the buffer once it is full. To go from burst shooting into video mode, the camera takes almost a minute and a half to fully empty the buffer.

The camera improves upon the autofocus system from the OM SYSTEM OM-1. It's the same hybrid AF system with AI-driven subject detection, but the implementation has been improved. Human detection is now included in the system's AI detection algorithms, in addition to a plethora of other subjects, from birds, cats, and dogs to trains, planes, and automobiles, with subjects as specific as steam locomotives and bullet trains.

When it comes to tracking moving faces, however, the camera performs similarly to its predecessor. Overall, it does an okay job with faster subjects in busy settings, but it won't nail focus completely, especially when subjects move more erratically.

If you stick to a center focus point rather than relying on subject tracking, the camera is very consistent and reliable. With over 1,000 AF points, it offers very precise focusing, and as long as you keep your subject under the focus point, it won't have trouble keeping them in focus.

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II has an exceptional in-body image stabilization system. Improving upon its predecessor, it's advertised to offer up to 8.5 stops of compensation. You can fine-tune the stabilization with settings that limit it to specific axes. 'IS1' applies image stabilization to all axes, 'IS2' limits it to the vertical axis for horizontal panning, and 'IS3' limits it to the horizontal axis for vertical panning. There's also an 'IS Auto' mode that can detect when the camera is panning and suspend stabilization on that particular axis. In addition, there's a 'Handheld Assist' function that, when you half-press the shutter button, indicates if there's camera shake and uses frame lines to show to what extent the image can be stabilized.

Overall, the camera does an exceptional job of image stabilization, letting you capture clear handheld shots at incredibly slow shutter speeds. We tested stabilization using the Olympus M.Zuiko ED 12-40mm f2.8 PRO, which doesn't include optical stabilization. That said, stabilization performance can vary depending on your lens, the focal length you shoot at, and even how steady your hands are.

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II has good usable dynamic range, particularly at its base ISO. At higher ISOs in low light conditions, the range of detail the camera can capture drops off. Still, it does a good job for a Micro Four Thirds sensor.

Images look quite sharp thanks to the relatively high resolution of the camera's sensor. You have a bit of leeway to crop in your images. You can also take advantage of the camera's High Res Shot mode to get composite images with a greater level of fine detail.

The camera's RAW noise handling is okay. Noise becomes quite apparent in darker conditions, but it performs on par with other Micro Four Thirds sensors, and you can always mitigate some noise by increasing the exposure. You'll just have a harder time getting around it in trickier shooting conditions.

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II niche is first and foremost wildlife photography, but for a photography-first camera, it's fairly full-featured for video work. That said, there's nothing really new here compared to the original OM SYSTEM OM-1.

The camera can record 1080p and 4k/C4k video, though it now adds a 9:16 vertical recording option for social media content creators. It can output 12-bit ProRes RAW video to a compatible Atomos recorder with full 4:4:4 chroma sampling, giving creators greater flexibility for keying and VFX work if they need it.

Most of the camera's video profiles are limited to 8-bit H.264 video, including its Flat profile. Meanwhile, 10-bit H.265 video is only supported when using the camera's OM-Log400 or HLG profiles. Additionally, All-I compression is only available when recording in FHD.

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II has a great range of frame rate options in 4k. While it can't record at 120 fps, it supports 4k recording at up to 60 fps without a crop, which is great.

The camera's internal recording capability is good overall, but it's still slightly behind the times. While it does support 10-bit recording, it's also limited to 4:2:0 sampling internally, and 10-bit is only available when using HLG or OM-Log400, which can be finicky to color-grade. Still, there are no arbitrary recording time limits, which is nice, and the camera has no issues with overheating.

The camera's AF works well in video. It has many subject detection modes, including animals, vehicles, and now humans, including more precise eye detection. Overall, it does a great job with moving human subjects despite not being the snappiest or most consistent. Depending on your settings, the autofocus can also be somewhat choppy. You can smooth it out by adjusting the AF speed at the expense of slower focus transitions.

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II captures great overall video quality. It does an excellent job in more controlled lighting conditions, with crisp video and nice colors straight out of the camera. It's also impressive in low light, without too much noise, and with good detail preservation.

Thanks to its stacked sensor, the OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II has a quick readout speed, resulting in very minimal rolling shutter distortion.

The camera has a wide range of frame rate options in 1080p, at up to 240 fps, with a dedicated slow/fast motion mode.

The same internal recording limitations apply in 1080p as in 4k. While there's no recording time limit, and the camera supports 10-bit recording in its Log and HLG modes, it's limited to 4:2:0 sampling.

As with 4k, the AF does a good job tracking moving subjects. It isn't the quickest or most accurate AF on the market, but it's quite reliably overall, and the wide range of subject detection modes are very useful. You can also fine-tune how the AF performs by tweaking your settings.

The camera's 1080p video quality is good. It captures fairly detailed, punchy footage, even in low light.

As with 4k, rolling shutter distortion is very minimal when panning in FHD.

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II has two SD card slots, both rated for UHS-II cards, which is great for those who like to keep a running backup or separate RAW and JPEG files. They're well-placed on the side of the camera, so it's easy to switch out cards when using a tripod.

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II has a USB-C port for charging, file transfer, and external power delivery. There's also a Micro HDMI port to connect to an external recorder or display, as well as mic and headphone jacks.