OLYMPUS OM-D E-M10 MARK IV

It’s light, portable and powerful – but is the latest addition to the E-M10 line enough of an upgrade?

- Louise Carey

Olympus may have grabbed the headlines recently with its shock sale, but the launch of the OM-D E-M10 Mark IV shows that it’s very much business as usual for the imaging company. With some interesting improvements over the E-M10 Mark III, this camera looks set to make Olympus enthusiasts very happy.

We had great affection for the E-M10 Mark III – it’s a fantastic little camera, with plenty of useful features to crow about. Thanks to its compact body, five-axis image stabilisation and 4K video capability, it’s been one of our favourite travel cameras for quite some time.

However, the Mk III wasn’t without its foibles. Released at a time when 24MP APS-C sensors were standard, its 16MP sensor was a little disappointing. There were also concerns over how well the camera handled moving subjects with its Continuous AF. So, with an updated 20MP sensor and the promise of improvements made to the Continuous AF focusing, could the E-M10 Mark IV be the perfect camera for those looking for a compact, yet powerful and versatile, travelling companion?

Key features

One of the key, and very welcome, new features for the E-M10 Mark IV is the 20MP Live MOS sensor, which is a boost from the previous generation’s 16MP sensor. This brings the E-M10 series in line with the latest versions of the Olympus E-M5 and the E-M1, which both have 20MP sensors.

The Mark IV also features a compact in-body image stabilisation unit that provides up to 4.5 EV steps of compensation and enables 15fps high-speed sequential shooting. There’s also improved Continuous AF precision for continuous focusing on moving subjects. Meanwhile, the Face Priority/Eye Priority AF is now able to focus onto faces in profile or looking down, which should help to ensure that you can capture sharp portraits even at unconventional angles.