Olympus goes retro with µFT snapper

Mirrorless magic

Olympus extended its array of Micro Four Thirds cameras today, launching the E-M5, a retro-style snapper based on the classic design of the company's OM range of 35mm SLRs.

The E-M5 is the first model in the firm's new OM-D collection and adds a number of features as yet unseen in the company's other Micro Four Thirds cameras. These include element protection, a high-res electronic viewfinder and advanced five-axis image stabilisation.

The photo-fiend snaps into action with a 16Mp CMOS sensor, geared up for low-light shots through a high-end ISO setting of 25600.

On the rear you'll find a 3in 610,000-dot tiltable OLED touchscreen to accompany the 1.44Mp electronic viewfinder.

Olympus claims the E-M5 features the fastest auto-focus of the current crop of any interchangeable lens cameras.

Its burst capture performance is pretty nifty too, notching up 9fps at a fixed focus, dropping to 4.2fps with continuous autofocus enabled.

The magnesium alloy body is equipped with dust- and splashproof sealing, as is the electronic flash set to accompany the camera upon launch. The E-M5 also captures HD video at 1080i.

The Olympus E-M5 will be available in black and silver this April for a recommended price of $1000 (£629).

The outlay rises if you'd like a lens thrown in.

For the M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 II R lens, customers will have to fork out $100 more.

Alternatively, the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-50mm f3.5-6.3 EZ lens knocks it up to a total of $1300 (£818).

For full tech specs, check out the Olympus E-M5 website. ®