Positive:
- Housing and camera make a quality impression, take good, and despite its compact size, it fits comfortably in your hand
- It's Not for a Aufsteckblitz this, which I did not previously used
- Camera with lens attached, emergency lightning and two smaller lenses and accessories also fit in well yet portable camera bags (Kalahari Orapa K-21)
- The display is good, rich in contrast and also in sunlight still usable
- The electronic viewfinder is good, even if the proximity sensor for automatic switching does not always work flawlessly
- The type filter fun and enticing for experimentation
- Retrospective application of Art Filters to RAW images is possible
- Style bracketing allowed to take a picture in all filter variants
- Two dials allow quick and smooth adjustment in the M, A and S-mode
- The image stabilization works very well and exposure times up to 1/2 are at low focal lengths possible even without a tripod
- Focusing is fast and reliable (DSLR-level, comparable to my D200)
- Kit lens with manual and power zoom
- Focusing and shutter are very quiet
- Image Quality to ISO 1600 well, ISO3200 acceptable
- Menu guidance and operating concept is good, but as with any camera also requires this training period, until you find all the settings. But the operation is not enough ran to a D200.
- Monochrome mode very varied with many options
- Excellent sharpness with fixed focal lengths
- Very good JPEG directly from the camera
- Adjustable display for ground-level shots or over head
Negatives:
- Grundempflindlichkeit ISO 200 (often problematic in the studio when you can not adjust far enough down the lightning or the aperture value do not want to zoom)
- Zoom lens used to, both power zoom and manual zoom
- The buttons on the back may make a wertigeren impression. At the E-P1 I like them better.
- Videos in full HD stutter at least on the display
Overall, a good decision, because even photographically makes the OM-D E-M5 a lot of fun. It is good to use, much is intuitive, more exotic settings are found at least with some searching in the menu. The lens is the kit very useful, but also quite large compared to the 14-42 of PEN. But who wants to get more out of the camera, should take particular one or two fixed focal lengths to do so. The Olympus 45mm / 1.8 is well suited especially for portraits and close-ups plus very inexpensive. Furthermore, recommended the Panasonic 20mm / 1.7 and the icing on the cake, the Voigtlander Nokton 25mm / 0.95. Other primes I know not yourself.
For whom the camera is? For all ambitious photographers who want more than just press the shutter button, but also do not want to lug around a huge equipment with them. Both the camera and lenses are significantly more compact than a comparable Nikon or Canon DSLR equipment. The light sensitivity is sufficient for indoor shots without flash, especially in high-intensity fixed focal lengths. The good image stabilization makes for static subjects a good contribution. The fast focus also allows images of subjects like cats unwilling to wait quietly on the trigger, as well as children. For sports photography, I can say little. In the studio I will still continue to use my D200.
The picture quality is very good especially the JPEGs. A post-processing in other programs like Lightroom or Aperture is not actually necessary only for RAW development. The type filter also subsequently expand the creative freedom, especially the new art filters Cross-Processed, diorama, painting or dramatic make fun and provide interesting results quickly, without having to seek expensive filters in PhotoShop.
Conclusion: The best ever MFT camera that I've tried, and even for semi-professionals a good choice.
