Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III Camera Review

This is a guest review of the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III mirrorless camera by photographer Meg Loeks.

It seems like these days everyone is releasing mirrorless cameras. So what sets the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III apart from the rest? The answer: its simplicity.

Another one of the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III’s best attributes is its portability. As with all mirrorless cameras, it’s going to be much easier to travel with than a DSLR, but the camera also surprised me with its fast and accurate sharpness.

Whether you’re traveling or a parent on the go looking for a lightweight camera, the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III is a great option.

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III | Build & Ergonomics

Its compact, modest size makes it easy to pack and carry. This is a necessity for someone like me who has four little children and is constantly on the go. I was able to easily hold the camera with just one hand while holding one of my children in the other.

The Olympus Mark III boasts a very appealing, vintage design. Its simple touch screen makes it easy to use, especially since you have the ability to tilt it. Adjusting the ISO, shutter speed and aperture while in manual mode is effortless.

The ISO is easily accessible from the back of the camera. Both the shutter speed and aperture can quickly be adjusted by dials on the top of the camera.

This camera is fast, which of course is another wonderful bonus. With its 6-fps high speed sequential shooting, I’m able to capture fleeting moments without missing a beat.

As a mirrorless camera, the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III is of course going to be much lighter than a DSLR.

I prefer to shoot with telephoto lenses outside because of the compressed perspective, which helps to separate my subject from the background.

These lenses tend to be heavy, but the lightweight Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III makes it so much easier to shoot with longer lenses for extended periods of time.

I love to shoot with wide angle lenses indoors, and the Olympus 17mm is a great option when working in tight spaces. It’s extremely lightweight, sharp, and fast, making the already portable Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III easy to shoot with all day long.

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Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III | Shooting

Perhaps one of my favorite features about the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III is its sharp and accurate autofocus.

The 121-point AF covers a wide focus area, which is great because I’m often working with quick-moving children; I need a camera that is going to be fast and tack sharp.

The LCD screen will display green focusing frames while pressing the shutter halfway when using S-AF (my preferred mode). This tells you which areas of your frame are in focus. I found this extremely helpful.

I didn’t shoot with the C-AF often, as I found S-AF very accurate, but continuous mode is a great option when tracking a fast-moving subject.

The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III also has a silent shooting mode. I was easily able to photograph my sleeping daughter without waking her by using this feature.

I just stretched out my arms, holding the lightweight camera over her. Then, using the tilt feature on the rear monitor, I was able to see my frame and take the shot quietly.

The tilt LCD screen is one of my favorite features. It’s a luxury I don’t have on my DSLR and I’m able to capture some challenging perspectives effortlessly with it.

Then there’s the touch AF shutter option. All you have to do is simply touch your subject on the LCD screen and your camera will focus and take the shot.

I love this feature because it’s accurate and I tend not to overshoot in this mode.

A new feature Olympus has introduced in the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III is the face/eye priority AF. This is a great focusing option especially when photographing a portrait.

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III | Art Mode

Another feature that makes the Olympus OM-D EM-10 Mark III unique is that it contains 15 art filters. If you are on the go and don’t have time to edit, but want to add an artistic element to your images, the filters will do just that.

Then, using the wifi capabilities, you can quickly upload your shots to your social media platforms.

While the art filters are an awesome creative option to quickly apply a filter to my images, I found that the exposure wasn’t always accurate.

For someone that shoots religiously in manual mode, it was a bit of a challenge to allow my camera to decide my exposure for me. There were times while in art mode that the camera would overexpose or underexpose my subjects.

However, these art filters work great when your tonal range within your frame is fairly balanced. If you are working with a high-contrast image with strong highlights and deep shadows, the art mode may not be a good option.

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III | Image Quality

I was incredibly impressed with the image quality, especially in low-light situations—my favorite type of light to shoot in. Even at a higher ISO of 1000, there’s very little noise.

I rarely ever shoot jpeg because I prefer to have more control over my images in post-processing. Most of the images in this article were shot as jpegs.

They maintained color beautifully and were easy to work with in post if I needed to make minor tweaks to exposure and white balance.

However very little editing was needed. I was extremely happy with the photos straight out of the camera. The image above has very little editing applied to it. Contrast and straightening were the only edits.

Olympus OMD EM-10 Mark III Review | Conclusion

It’s these incredible features that make the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III a perfect camera choice, especially when on-the-go. Its portability and simple design make it easy to use, and it produces high-quality, sharp imagery.

What do I love about it? The trendy, vintage design makes this camera very appealing right from the start. It’s timeless, simple and straightforward.

Like other mirrorless cameras, its lightness makes it easily portable. What sets it apart is the fast and accurate auto-focus. The 121-point focus area is one of the many reasons why this camera has quickly become a favorite, everyday choice.

This makes the Olympus Mark III a perfect everyday camera because it has the ability to capture moments effortlessly.

I prefer to shoot with prime lenses, which I’m able to easily interchange on the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III. Since I prefer to shoot with telephoto lenses outside, the 5-axis image stabilization is crucial for creating sharp, high-quality images.

While the art filters are a wonderful bonus, they’re not practical for someone like me who likes to have control over my exposure rather than letting my camera decide. That’s especially true when shooting in low-light conditions.

Now on to the big question: would I buy this camera? Absolutely. The positives far outweigh the negatives.