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OM’s new flagship camera brings few upgrades, but a clever new feature
OM Digital Solutions has unveiled its new flagship Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera, the OM System OM-1 Mark II, an AI-powered all-rounder that’s the first camera to offer live GND (graduated neutral density) filters.
From the outside, the differences from the OM System OM-1 – the last camera to carry the Olympus branding – might be difficult to spot, but under the hood the OM-1 Mark II offers more than double the buffer size for burst shooting, an industry-best 8.5 stops of in-body image stabilisation, improved autofocus performance, and what might be the most exciting new feature on a flagship camera that we’ve seen in a long time: AI-based GND filters.
While the software and artificial intelligence have seen some welcome upgrades, in terms of core technology this is essentially the same camera at the OM-1. The body is identical except for new rubberised dials for a more tactile, responsive feel, and at its heart is the same stacked 20.4MP sensor and quad core TruePic X processor.
Of course, that means all the other things people loved about the OM-1 – like the 120fps burst shooting and IP53-certified weather sealing – are also present in the new model.
Live GND filters
Let’s start with what will be the most exciting addition for most: Live GND filters. An extension of the Live ND wizardry that Olympus introduced with the OM-D E-M1X, Live GND filters provide an AI-powered, software-based solution for situations where you might normally need a classic ND grad.
It sounds like a gimmick, but from what we’ve seen – including how effective Live NDs are – it looks like a serious bit of technological magic. As you can see in the launch video (https://bit.ly/3SERtEfw), let’s say you want to shoot a dark mountain against a bright sky. Simply select the angle of the graduation you want and drag the line across your screen – a bit like selecting gradients in Lightroom – to control where the filter will take effect.
We’re going to need to test this to be completely convinced, but this is exactly the kind of innovation that we want to see in flagship cameras. Anyone can just stuff more megapixels on a sensor, but OM Digital looks for innovative ways to transform the shooting experience.
Speaking of Live NDs, OM has added an extra stop to that feature in the OM-1 Mark II, so the filter simulations come in ND2, ND4, ND8, ND16, ND32, ND64 and now N
