Which Camera for – Starter – Budget – Backup …

In my article on the PictureFX Leica M8 Lut, I mentioned George Holden’s 2023 video titled – Fake 500 $ Fujifilm X100V – in which he compared the performance of the original Olympus E-M10 Mark I to that of the Fujifilm X100V, and asserted that the former outperformed the latter.

There was also the 2023 video of Emily from Micro Four Nerds, which was about – the best 200 $ tiny camera no one is talking about – the E-M5 Mark I.

Sure enough, these weren’t the only videos in 2022 and 2023 where an Olympus camera was labeled as the “best choice” – “best starter camera” – “best budget”, Martin Belan also wrote”Why buy an Olympus E-M10 as a backup or second camera ?, yes, why ?

Martin wrote “size and prize” and yes they are good arguments, although many will say that there are other small and affordable alternatives, so again why?

Let’s first go back five years to a video again by Emily from Micro Four Nerds with a review of the Olympus E-M1 Mark II vs the Panasonic Lumix GH5 – you have to see that one first, so: Olympus EM1 MkII vs GH5 // stabilisation tests and review – know that Emily is a big fan of Panasonic and especially her GH5 camera, you will also hear that the test was done with only the Olympus in body camera stabilization, v.s. the Lumix GH5 with body and lens stabilization, this will easily beat the E-M1 MKII so you think, well …

That turned out differently for Emily than she expected. The Image Stabilization of the Olympus is Mind Blowing ! But also the battery life of the Olympus in general, and even at extremely low temperatures is amazing. Emily “would kill” for the Life Composite Mode, and this feature is even in the very first E-M10 MK I.

My very first Olympus camera was the Pen EPM1 Mini, a nice little camera, but not a success for me, and that was because I missed an EVF so much. But a few years later, in fact, during the transition from Pentax to Fujifilm X-H1, I bought my very first Olympus E-M10 MK I. I connected this camera to an old OM 300mm f4.5 lens via an adapter, this camera and lens combination caused the first cracks in my decision to switch from Pentax to Fuji. The image stabilization of this little camera was amazing.

Ok, to come back to why – you won’t find a camera that is : so cheap, so small, has so many features, such a great battery life, beautiful color sience … and also has a mind blowing internal image stabilization … and good looks 🙂 than an Olympus E-M10 or E-M5.

Which one should you buy ? the table below may help, I have all had these cameras myself or still have one or two of them. The indicated prices are prices for which you can really find this camera (body), I did, sometimes it can be a bit of a search and the wait can be worth it. I started with one, and kept buying and/or changing. The ones with the model type in bold are the best choices in my opinion.

Left to right : Olympus E-M10 Mark II & Mark IV, E-M5 Mark III

Even better ? Well, as Martin Belan said before, this was about the backup camera, put the previously mentioned E-M1 Mark II next to it at €500 or less, and you have the best photographic kit with backup at a starter or budget price!

One more little thing, the Olympus menus, they are said to be complicated, and yes I must admit they are not super simple, but we shouldn’t exaggerate either. The point is not that they are too complicated, there are just a lot of settings possible on one Olympus camera, more than another, so that’s actually a good thing. As a beginner you will not use those menus much and so they will not bother you, and as an advanced photographer you will be happy with the many options.

La Gallerie

The photo gallery of Open Source Photography, Olympus micro 4/3 system, Vintage Lens Photograpy, Film Simulation, PictureFX, HDR – Photographer : Marc R.