8 More Improvements & Upgrades - Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

[@robinwong]

I know there is an overwhelming response on the 12-40mm F2.8 PRO vs 12-45mm F4 PRO comparison video, I am working on it now. That will take a lot more work than usual, so please do bear with me a little. I am doing the best I can. And I am debunking the poor starburst effect and bokeh quality claimed by certain well respected review site.

[@garybrown9719]

They are making a mistake they need to make a 12-60mm f4

[@michaeldensley6175]

Just bought an EM1.3; upgrading from EM1.2. Your videos have been extremely helpful with useful insights I don't find anywhere else.

[@ggwildlife]

Thanks Robin my EM1 mkIII arrived yesterday and in the process of setting it up for my wildlife photography.

[@Red35Photography]

Great one Robin for highlighting all the little things. These little things matter, to photographers and filmmakers, way more than sheer numbers.

[@robinwong]

yeap, you are right Jimmy, the little things do matter and make a difference!

[@stephenfox5133]

Red35 Photography couldn’t agree more Jimmy!

[@rudolfabelin383]

Thanks Robin! As you said, you covered some features that others channels have missed. You're the king!

[@robinwong]

Thanks, I always do my best to share the best I can.

[@nizar5558]

Thanks Robin, Happy to see you sharing your knowledges with Kuala Lumpur as your background. I am so eager to use OND EM1 Mark III, hence I pre-ordered mine on 13 February 20.

[@robinwong]

Glad you have it on pre-order. You will love the E-M1 Mark III

[@AllenMaestas]

These might be small improvements, but they are very beneficial.. Sometimes it's the small things that help the most.

[@robinwong]

Indeed, people tend to forget that it is the small things that make all the difference

[@davidblack2632]

Great refinements on what is already a great camera. I got the E-M1` MkIII on order.

[@robinwong]

Indeed

[@PinnaclePete]

Excellent video Robin! I haven't heard about these upgrades anywhere else! I think some of them would be very helpful to my photography. I'm now more convinced that the E-M1 MK III would be a more suitable upgrade for me (E-M1 owner) than even a discounted MK II.

[@robinwong]

Thanks! I do my best to share as much as I can quickly. There is a lot in the camera to discover and I don't think many people have the time to do a deep dive.

[@chrisjordan8137]

Agreed. The Mk III is not a suitable upgrade for most people from the Mk II. But for those many Mk I owners, it is a better camera all around so a great upgrade from the Mk I. BUT so is the EM-5 Mk III if you want something that follows the ethos of the Olympus Micro four thirds and the small and light approach!

[@hawaiianstarman]

Thank you Robin for your creative reviews!

[@robinwong]

My pleasure doing them

[@Bassbarbie]

Thank you. Definitely a few points not covered by others. The extra mode for the evf/screen switching is available to the EM1ii in the latest firmware update. Your demo helped me understand the difference.

[@robinwong]

Thanks, glad I could help

[@JustPimpiset]

Before watching this video, I just played around with my new em1 mkiii. Tried using rode wireless go by connecting it directly to the mkiii and recorded some videos. As you mentioned, the audio is a lot better comparing to my em5 mkii which always comes with white noise. That's a huge improvement for me! I did not expect this feature but it is really better. Loved it!

[@robinwong]

Thanks for the feedback, appreciate that. I did hear the difference but I did not want to over-emphasize it.

[@mfreider]

As usual - "devil is in details", these little improvements actually makes huge difference in the way how we perceive camera during shooting. Nice touches here and there create feeling of refined product. Robin, thanks a lot for looking beyond paper specs! And speaking about audio, actually I noticed significant difference (I am using good headphones). With mk3 even on your simple but very sufficient mic volume, not loudness but in terms of soundstage, became wide and more clear with better separation. I re-listen test few times and 100% new one is better.

[@robinwong]

Thanks for the feedback Mike, that is indeed encouraging to hear. Especially after KZbin compressed the audio further from my video uploaded. Olympus did not claim any specific improvements except managing the white noise issue better. The E-M1 Mark III can support high res audio recording (96KHz/24bit) but seriously that microphone I used was such a cheap one I don't think it was anywhere high res capable.

[@MatteoCapuzzi]

Thanks for this video Robin, I really love the enthusiasm you put in your craft and the practical examples of the features you're talking about such as the auto-focus transition. I currently own a EM1 and EM1ii so I will probably upgrade to the Mk3 in order to retire the old one and this was helpful to justify the investment since most of these aspects are relevant to my work. I must say that the EVF switch option was a big deal for me and luckily it has been added to the MkII as well with the latest firmware update. I shoot a lot of interiors and when confined in small angles the auto switch was driving me nuts! I wish they would bring the "favorite" panel to the MkII as well, another huge time-saver!

[@7zinz]

thank you for the heads up about these improvements ! Speaking of which..nice haircut! :)

[@robinwong]

Thanks!

[@mimstyle]

The perfect camera daiiiiiiiimmm! I'll buy it soon to be with my em5 mark iii. I can't wait now!

[@robinwong]

Great! You will love the E-M1 Mark III

[@EliteKnowledgeClan]

Oh wow, those timelapse upgrades are going to be awesome. I thought I would need to keep my lumix G7 as a dedicated timelapse camera. I even checked the official Olympus site and it said it was still limited to 5fps in 4k so that's weird. Thanks for pointing this out!

[@robinwong]

Indeed, timelapse upgrade is a huge welcome. Can you give me the link that says in camera time lapse movie 4K 5fps for E-M1 Mark III? I checked a few Olympus sites they did not mention it.

[@EliteKnowledgeClan]

@@robinwong asia.olympus-imaging.com/product/dslr/em1mk3/spec.html - ctrl f 'time lapse' brings it up. getolympus.com says the same thing but it's under lots of menus. The Eurpoean site doesn't mention frame rates at all just resolution. These were redirects from olympus-global.com which I think is official, but I have no idea now after finding so many different sites.

[@robinwong]

@@EliteKnowledgeClan thanks. I will alert the Olympus Malaysia team. Hopefully they get it amended soon.

[@lordbaloma]

your videos are very sharp

[@robinwong]

Of course, it was shot on an OM-D and M.Zuiko lenses, must be sharp.

[@lordbaloma]

@@robinwong hahaha.. so true

[@levinyung3863]

Hi, Robin , thanks for your detailed describe the emi mark 3 , I know there has a new function which is ND installed , may I ask how can use and under which situations to use it ? Thanks

[@RuiMiguelDaSilvaPinto]

Hello there, I shoot mainly macro for work, and was wondering if you could do a video showcasing the focus stacking capabilities of the EM1 mark iii. Cheers

[@Forthejoyofphotography]

Thank you for this. Very helpful as well as informative. I am looking forward to receiving mine. I pre-ordered it and traded in my MKII. I only moved back to Olympus about 9 months ago. So I am still getting into shooting with the OMD. Thus perhaps I am less critical than others who say this is a poor upgrade. I feel that the features you hjghlighted. Together with the new processor. Inherited EM1X capabilities, joystick, new mode dial (aka C4 and B) and build quality does set it apart from the MKII (other than build quality) and the EM5 MKIII on all counts.

[@robinwong]

The E-M1 Mark III is a much refined machine in comparison to the E-M1 Mark II. I think we all wish for a newer sensor, that is the only thing missing.

[@TheMagdiragdag]

Number 6 improvement for the EVF seems to be available for the em1.2 with firmware 3.2 (just released). Thanks for the rest of the info, Olympus refined and improved the EM1 in quite some aspects.

[@JeffreyMcPheeters]

Great review again. I think the E-M1.3 audio was brighter than the E-M1.2 and was slightly better to me. Thanks, Robin. I rely on your assessments quite a bit.

[@robinwong]

Thanks for the feedback, that's very helpful.

[@bobprice6274]

Great video, I always learn a lot from your well presented informative content.

[@3dwag]

Outstanding videos and follow up videos for the EM1iii, Robin. I've got one on preorder since the second day, and yours, Jimmy's, and Gordon's initial preview videos were each very helpful to me in making that quick decision. Yes, it's so many seemingly minor details which together add up to make compelling case to me for the EM1iii. My EM1ii will soon become my backup and B-roll camera body. Re: the improved mic preamps - your lavalier mic apparently has fairly high output levels which help to cover over the EM1ii's mic preamp background noise, plus you are a strong speaker, plus there is the outdoor background noise in your environment, so it is not so easy to see the EM1iii's audio preamp s/n improvements in your video. However, I had noticed that in some applications and situations my EM1ii is a bit noisier than some of my other cameras and camcorders, so I will definitely benefit from the EM1iii's better mic preamps.

[@robinwong]

Thanks for the kind words and also your analysis on the audio situation. I realised that the lavalier microphone was probably not the best setup to test the new audio hardware. Also I live in a relatively noisy environment, even in my own bedroom there are background noises of the highway traffic, etc.

[@UneBoleeDAir_Photo-Tech]

Awesome review Robin ! See what we were talking about timelapse at 30fps, totally feasable and I was right guessing it would eventually come to E-M1iii. 😉 The desactivation of the screen like on Sony's camera is also game changer for me doing a lot of video. Other improvements are definitively welcome too. Thanks again for this review ! 😀

[@theomarley2990]

M5 iii has just been given 1.1 update which involves the same feature for EVF, definitely using ON2, had issues with it trying to swap to the EVF when using the screen when in heavy rain yesterday and when wearing a life jacket with reflective strips on (I assume it was the reflective strips anyway)

[@robinwong]

Yeap, that is indeed a great news

[@gilbertwalker6769]

Theo, could you please let us know where the em5 iii firmware update is found? I looked on the website and couldn't find anything. Thanks!!

[@gilbertwalker6769]

Sorry Theo, I couldn't find it on the Olympus USA site, but I did find it on the Olympus UK page. Thanks for alerting us to it

[@theomarley2990]

Gilbert Walker glad you’ve found it, I got a notification through oi.share telling be about it. Would have missed it otherwise

[@allenschneider1847]

On the OM1 has there been any improvement in resolution for the EVF? I wish the 12-40 2.8 was the kit lense on the OM5iii, at present that combination costs $2,000.

[@systemanaturae105]

Very useful improvements for video. Regarding the point on the sound recording. I think I detected a slight reverberation in the mark iii compared to the mark ii ?? I will listen again when you do a video clip using a high grade microphone. Useful and interesting video as always Robin.

[@MadEnglishTV]

Thanks

[@robinwong]

cheers

[@MOEVTEC]

Thanks for the great video Robin. I have been an Olympus shooter for nearly a decade and I'm curious, I have seen many people mention the use of Live View Boost when shooting with flash but not Simulated Optical Viewfinder. I enable the S-OVF and have had no issues shooting flash and S-OVF is assignable to a custom button. What are your thoughts. Thanks.

[@MyRetroJourney]

At first I was a bit disappointed about the Mark III but after watching and reading many reviews it seems to be an extremely well rounded and capable camera. Will I switch immidistely from my M1 Mark II? No, but I'll buy the Mark III when I get it for a good price.

[@siyuq5620]

mark iii is a monster!

[@garryneil753]

Impressive. But without a new sensor it is “Mkii1/2”. Maybe new sensor coming in x version to differentiate fro M1? That

[@Subzero2281]

Awesome shout out to CEs! Lol! Great review boss!

[@antoineveling2650]

Great info Robin. Thank you...

[@pretavol]

Thanks, Robin, for another invaluable analysis. The movie focus shift speed control looks particularly useful. At least Mk II users can get that very handy extra EVF switch setting by applying the 3·2 firmware update.

[@leonfourie5717]

O yes and the hair cut looked good on you.

[@robinwong]

Thanks, appreciate that!

[@garryneil753]

I am really looking forward to your 12-40 vs 12-45 comparison. I know you will do a great review (as always).

[@robinwong]

Working hard on it now

[@leonfourie5717]

Robin again this was excelent. I am sure the different in live view boost and the way that the lcd operate with the view finder can be add to the EM1 MK2 with a update. I am sure the prosessor can handle that.

[@robinwong]

Agreed, and I hope we get those updates soon.

[@mrgabrielssalvation]

Hi Robin, can you please make a video and explain the different highres (handheld & tripod) shoot modes. What are the things to consider using the handheld mode regarding shutter speed (shortest and longest), flash sync on so on? I mean, if the handheld highres mode is so awsome... why not to shoot in this mode ALL THE TIME??? There must be special restrictions or CONs & PROs for each mode. Please make a video espacially for the highres modes. (Is it correct that the E-M1III also has 25MP mode?) Greatings from Germany

[@edfrancis66]

I shoot a fair amount of indoor events with flash, so the Live View Boost shortcut would be a godsend. Just got my EM1 Mk II last August though, so I won't be upgrading that soon.

[@robinwong]

Likewise! I feel there should always be a shortcut for live view boost for any other Olympus cameras

[@ebreckpo6563]

@@robinwong You have a shortcut for S-OVF on the mkII. I have programmed Fn2 for this feature, perhaps I am missing something here regarding the difference of these two functions. i am not shooting a lot in studio environments but it helps in darker situations.

[@robinwong]

@@ebreckpo6563 S-OVF is not live view boost. S-OVF does not work in live view LCD screen, and it lowers down the frame rate (refresh rate) of EVF. Also in extremely dark environment live view boost will try it's best to brighten the EVF/LCD but S-OVF won't, since it is simulating what is seen in real life - dark.

[@ebreckpo6563]

@@robinwong Thank you for clarifying. I will experiment a little more with both functions. With Regards

[@martinelfver4074]

Lots of very useful information, well done🙂 When shooting with flash indoors, I often use the OVF-function instead of live view boost because OVF can be assigned to a function button and live view boost cannot (on Pen-F and EM-1). Is there any reason why live view boost would be preferable to OVF when using flash? Thanks for all your effort in making these videos!

[@micha5645]

Thank you!

[@robinwong]

My pleasure doing the video

[@AnastasTarpanov]

OK, now i'm convinced and I'm ordering now! The time lapse setting, improved audio and video AF fine-tune + the new great Face & Eye AF and the ability to turn it on and off with a single button is a huge change for me. Robin, I saw that you can change focus points while shooting video, but can you turn on & off the Face & Eye AF?

[@marlynkan5015]

Goodmorning Robin, i have olympus omd em10 mark 3 , the raw file , jpeg function disappear,did i press any button that causes it ?please advise.thank yiu

[@catherinetremerryn]

Do you think Olympus will stop all OM1 M2 updates now the M3 has come out?

[@jorgloos5745]

Is the AF-C working in slow motion video mode (120 fps)?

[@snowwalker9999]

Robin, does EM5 mk iii come with any of these upgrades?

[@estratioskalanakis1242]

Why did you choose to go for the Olympus instead of Canon?

[@spanksen]

Nice Video once again Robin. I have a question for the new Eye-Detect Feature. As in your last Video about the EM1MKIII i was really impressed about how good that feature worked. My Question is - have you checked the Pictures also, is the Focus really to 100 % on the Eye as result? Thank you very much

[@robinwong]

So far all my shots were 100% critically sharp in focus.

[@dfotos]

Thank for this very interesting video! well done!

[@robinwong]

Thanks

[@ikramfender]

Hi robin, been following ur youtube and subscribed to you for few years now, thanks for all the olympus content. I currently have em5 mk1, thinking of upgrading, however, i’m contemplating between the em1 mk2 pre owned with 35k SC or should i fork out extra money for the mk3. Currently using olympus pro lens 12-40mm f2.8. What would be your advice/opinion

[@garybrown9719]

Hard decision xt4 with no light zooms lenses Em1 mark iii with less dynamic range I would get both if I was smart info to remember the menus #2👍 Like #6 #8👍

[@joeltunnah]

What did you pick? I’ve heard about random shutdowns and overheating with the X-T4. Plus even a Fuji fanboy review channel like Andrew & Denae says a lot of Fuji lenses are soft and have heavy fringing problems. I was tempted to pick up an X-T3 which is cheap now, but I think overall Olympus has the better lenses, better stabilization, better firmware and build quality.

[@mfreider]

One more comment. Personally, I think questions like "should I upgrade from mk2 to mk3?" or "12-40 vs 12-45" are interested only from reviewing prospective. Because, you shouldn't ;) I don't think mk3 was born as replacement, it was born as refinement of great camera. It is for people how looking to buy high-end m43 camera. Olympus clearly realize there are no significant progress in sensor department (look on new Nikon D6, same sensor as D5) to justify full redesign. So they did right thing - improved, refined, addressed issues. Offering absolutely amazing product. And new 12-45/4, it is not a competitor to 12-40/2.8, it is path to get upgrade from kit lens. Just alternative route with lower cost and significantly lower weight. Olympus just needed to make it sharp and strong at f/4 and they did it. I would rather see comparison with 12-100/4, because I think next will be something like 40-150/4 which would make clients to think twice about 12-100/4.

[@robinwong]

Hence I never made any videos about "Should I upgrade from this to that". Even in my 12-45mm PRO review video I specifically said those who have owned the 12-40mm PRO and 12-100mm PRO there is no need to look at the 12-45mm PRO.

[@kamilrakowski23]

For some is worth for upgrade. For some is not. Joystick with diagonal moving, hhhr, deeper buffer, much better face tracking(the ability to choose faces), live nd - enough for me.

[@concoru]

Can those few improvements go to em5 Mark 2?

[@LyndonPatrickSmith]

The new camera definitely has a lower noise floor: there is less hiss (aka white noise) in the background.

[@martini_served_here]

for what is the small light indicator between the delete and play botton

[@dgoonlee]

wow thankyou. I will upgrade my m2 to m3 :-)

[@robinwong]

Great decision

[@Erdal_Gumus]

Dear Robin did you record this review with the new EM Mark3, if yes which lens was used, thanks in advance

[@robinwong]

No, this video was recorded on my E-M5 Mark III

[@photosvein]

So on the 1-3 the live view can be toggled on/off with the FN button on the pro lenses?

[@robinwong]

Were you referring to Live View Boost? if so, yes.

[@photosvein]

Robin Wong wooo 😀

[@gr33nDestiny]

Hi, this is about the 6th video I’m watching to find out about procapture, no one mentioned it, I haven’t watched this yet I’ll be disappointed if it dosn’t show functionality again

[@davidzx692]

Hi Robin, what are your recording volume sensivity level settings for external mic in your OMD?

[@robinwong]

I did not touch the volume level, it was at default 0.

[@artlarsen9575]

One more thing... BLUETOOTH and is adding GPS data via Smartphone supported over Bluetooth? So far I've only seen Chris Eyre-Walker mention the addition of Bluetooth and nobody has demonstrated how it's working.

[@DOMMARIETTE]

I am an Olympus user (OMD EM10 Mark1, OMD EM5 Mark 2, 60 mm macro, 12-40 mm2.8 and many other lenses) and happy with my gear. I consider buying the EM1 M3. However I have noticed poor performance in low light situation with my micro 4/3 cameras. Is there any significant improvement in high Isos ? It would be great if you could post a comparison focused on high iso between EM1 mark2, EM1X and EM1 mark3. Thank you for your answer.

[@robinwong]

They are all the same.

[@DOMMARIETTE]

Thank you

[@alex.germany]

Timelaps up to 9999 frames makes sense, because the camera can now be powered by an external source...

[@robinwong]

That is true!

[@hawaiianstarman]

Robin...what microphone model are you using? Wireless?

[@robinwong]

It was a cheap no brand RM9 (USD2.00?) lavalier microphone, wired and plugged directly into the camera.

[@ansomeBob]

Do you think any of these new software improvements will be rolled out as an update to the Mk2?

[@manicdan481]

Most of these are thing I would love to see upgraded to my EM1ii, especially since both will be sold for a little while it makes sense to keep supporting it 100%. The real upgrades that cant transfer are things like USB charging, joystick, HHHR due to the new processors, and a few other things only the new processors can handle. Some I doubt will trickle down, but it would be incredible if it did. Star-AF and LiveND would be the 2 that I can think of where its unlikely, but so worth it if they did. Combining all of these upgrades and I really might have to trade up, but if many end up on my camera anyway, then its less of a reason too. Just gotta wait and see whats in the next firmware.

[@robinwong]

Some of the features like time lapse, movie fine tune, etc won't be possible, due to hardware limitations.

[@AngelikuS_]

Robin Wong and face and eye detection?

[@manicdan481]

@@robinwong I could see the time lapse feature being passed down to the mkii. I think it makes the movie after the time lapse is complete, so its just passing in a list of pictures it needs to merge, and 4k video of 5 or 20 fps shouldn't matter, and expanding it to 9999 frames should be easy enough too. I don't know what limitation there would be stopping it. Olympus did a very odd thing continuing to sell both the mkii and mkiii at the same time. They are not so different that they go after different markets, and they are similar enough that if they choose to only provide updates to the latest one, they hurt a product they perceive to still support 100%. Its definitely going against the philosophy of any marketing classes I took. Will have to see how it plays out.

[@edjabarov2001]

Robin, thank you! I have Em1Mark2 and after all reviews i have seen including this, my conclusion is - stay with Em1Mark2, its waste of money to upgrade

[@garybrown9719]

Olympus is so inovative then everybody else copies them

[@kimc5750]

But wait there's more! You're bad for my bank account! Fabulous

[@OlympusMcLeon]

cool ♥️

[@t.hwani_6021]

Well, As a streetphotography hobbyist, I don’t think there are big upgrades in mark iii. I will use my mark ii until mark iiii is coming.

[@photosvein]

이태환 IV 👍

[@barikly88]

I need

[@marymontedescubriendogranc1794]

Una pena no tenga subtítulos en Español

[@nordattack]

When testing audio for white noise, as an engineer, you should know: 1. Don't be outside in the open air when making the recording! The sound of the environment will drown out hardware noise. Duh!. 2. Keep your mouth shut! Don't talk while doing the recording. We are trying to hear if the hardware is introducing noise into the recording. So just record with no talking or environmental noise and see if excessive white noise is introduced. Other than this complaint, an excellent demonstration of these new features. Thank you.

[@robinwong]

As an engineer to another engineer, you should also not judge without knowing the real circumstances. My room is noiser than the place I chose to record. Hard to believe but it is true. The lavalier microphone is designed for one singular purpose - to record human voice. Correct me if I am wrong. There are other microphones for other purposes. But lavalier microphone is intended to be used on humans especially when speaking. So I used the microphone in its designed parameters and limitations. Like I said, in the limitation of my test, as any engineers would, I did not have the other microphones to test other parameters.

[@nordattack]

@@robinwong Sorry to judge. I am an audio engineer, so I tend to overreact sometimes when I see people doing things incorrectly. All I was trying to say was, if the "hardware" is introducing white noise into the recordings, then plug a mic in, muffle it, cover it, do whatever is needed so it can't hear any sound and make a recording. Then transfer the recording to your computer and play it back on your headphones and turn the sound up, if there is white noise heard, then it came from the hardware not the mic. If certain mics are causing the white noise then get one of those and run the same test. But do the test on Mark 2 and Mark 3 in the same way with the same mic and compare. Sorry again for attacking you. You know how us engineers are, a testy bunch!

[@bamsemh1]

I Didn't Hear Any Difference. neither on the phone or the TV. maybe it's just earphones that are effected 🤔

[@robinwong]

Two other people in the comment thread confirmed significant difference.

[@BobK58]

You got a haircut.

[@robinwong]

Yeap, it is too hot in Malaysia