OM Systems OM-1 : The Perfect Travel Companion

I’m a little baffled by the constant negativity towards this camera by a certain professional Youtuber. I guess he has his reasons, but I get the distinct impression they are personal rather than professional.

I have owned Olympus digital cameras for a very long time and I have owned the E-M1 series of cameras from the mark I, mark II to the mark III which I still own today.

The OM-1 is a natural and strategic upgrade to the EM-1 mark III from the new owner of the business, OM Systems. It was their first camera release under this new branding and management and they needed to get it right.

For anyone wanting the best from Micro Four Thirds and not owning an EM-1 already, the purchase of an OM-1 is a no-brainer. But for anyone with an existing EM-1 the decision to upgrade is always a nuanced one, like it is for any camera upgrade decision.

So it was with a certain trepidation and the backdrop of vitriol from a certain professional Youtuber that I decided to take the plunge with the OM-1, and my resounding conclusion is “No Regrets”. I’ve taken this camera abroad, to two weddings, for city breaks and more besides, and I could not be happier. For me the OM-1 is the perfect travel companion.

So, is it worth the upgrade? Well in my own opinion the weakest part of the design of the EM-1 from mark I through to mark III was the viewfinder. Not just the resolution but the dynamic range. The view looking through the EVF always looked more mushy and less distinct than when using my other cameras, and no matter how much I tweaked the settings I could never get it to look good.

I don’t think it is just a question of resolution, but also the processor inside the camera. Viewing images in playback mode through the EVF was perfectly acceptable, it was live view mode which I never really got on with when I compared the E-M1 to my other cameras.

This is all vastly improved now in the OM-1: The combination of higher resolution EVF and more powerful processor make for a very enjoyable experience, the OM-1 for me really is what its predecessor should have been.

When I’m out shooting I like to use the grainy high contrast monochrome art filter, it reduces everything to lines, shapes and patterns, and helps me to find interesting compositions that I otherwise would miss. That’s the filter you are seeing with the images I am showing here, all shot in the City of London.

I shoot both JPEGs and RAW, but those grainy JPEGs a lot of the time are all I need, especially for uploading to the internet, and the grain provides some nostalgic charm, I miss the days of film!