Micro 4/3 OM-5 has been released:

Here’s an interesting watch. It’s Robin Wong’s take. He goes on a bit (the video’s just over 40 minutes long) but I love his energy and agree with all his points but especially his assessment at about 25 minutes in; “all the important things about the camera, the OM5, are exactly the same as the EM5 Mark 3”.

If I was starting out, I’d buy the OM5 but, as I already have the EM5iii, I’ll wait to see what the next release has to offer.
 
Yikes... It inspires very little confidence in OMDS to be honest. So few updates, just better stabilisation and some minor firmware updates, HHHR being the most significant. Micro USB is just emberassing on a "high end" model in 2022.

I'm not convinced the weather sealing is actually upgraded; I'm very certain that Olympus always under-rated its products, and an IP53 rating would've been achieved by most if not all of the E-M5 and E-M1 generations, if only Olympus had bothered to have them certified that high. Note that many Pro lenses previously rated IPx1 are now listed as IP53 compliant combinations with the O-M1 and OM-5.

This makes me wonder if Olympus was quite far along on the OM-1's development, and OMDS just released it after testing was complete, but then didn't bother to spend any significant funds on developing actual new cameras under its own wings.

The new lenses that followed the OM-1 were good news (but then many OEM lenses are developed by third parties, might be the case here too), but this camera body really hurts my confidence in the company's long term commitment. I'm not a system builder, might just buy an E-M1 iii or OM-1 at some point and add a single lens to it to use until broken, but if I were a system builder this announcement would make me think twice.
 
Here’s an interesting watch. It’s Robin Wong’s take. He goes on a bit (the video’s just over 40 minutes long) but I love his energy and agree with all his points but especially his assessment at about 25 minutes in; “all the important things about the camera, the OM5, are exactly the same as the EM5 Mark 3”.

If I was starting out, I’d buy the OM5 but, as I already have the EM5iii, I’ll wait to see what the next release has to offer.
I think that statement sums it up pretty well:
The camera is not bad at all, but for a lot of people it's simply not what they expected, especially after some earlier rumors. It's an E-M5 Mark III with a faster processing unit, better IBIS and additional computational features like HHHR and Live ND.

Everything packed inside the same housing as the last E-M5, which comes with a number of concerns: The plastic construction has always been a point for criticism, people who enjoy a good build quality for their cameras were let down and there were a number of reports regarding broken tripod mounts, especially when used with carrying straps which attach into it. The EVF still is at 2.36 million dots, which to be fair seems the de facto standard in this kind of price range, but in late 2022 I think it would've been an opportunity to step forward and leap ahead. Speaking of late 2022: While the choice of micro USB in late 2019 for the E-M5 Mark III might have been somewhat acceptable, three years later there simply is no excuse in not replacing it with a much more common, much more capable USB-C connector.

To me it seems like OM Digital only tried a half-baked product, recycle as much as possible from the E-M5 III and just replace some of the internals - done. The E-M5 Mark III in my opinion was one of the most interesting cameras in the late Olympus line-up, but instead of taking the opportunity to further improve this product all around, the left the handbrake on and started moving...
 
According to one of the rumour sites from earlier this week, those models has been axed. It somewhat fits with the newly held (heavy) discounted sales on them, the EM-1MkIII was at $1300 over here since early august, but no dumping price on the EM-5MkIII, it held at $1200, but you could get it with the 12-45 f:4 for $1700, not very impressed by that at all.
The EM5 iii is currently on sale in the US for $900. It’s a little tempting.
 
If this company wants to compete with full-frame mirrorless cameras in this same price-range, such as the Nikon Z6-II, they need to put their top of the line sensor in it- not one that has been available in the Olympus line for years.

The Stacked BSI 4/3 sensor would make this competitive. The current configuration- if you have a large investment in lenses, does not give any better performance than existing cameras on close out below $1000. The price for a stacked BSI sensor is too close to the Sony A7 IV and Nikon Z7-II. Bringing better performance offered by the advanced sensor down to a lower price might get some sales.
 
I'm pretty invested in M43, and the 45/1.2 is my favorite lens lately, but the recent body releases do not inspire confidence in me. The GH6 is very video focused, and I'm not the target audience. The OM-1 competes in the same price bracket as the Sony A7 IV and friends. And now the OM-5 feels like too minor of an incremental refresh.

So is the sensor not the BSI 20mp version from the OM-1?
DPReview suggests no. Maybe the new sensor came too late in the development; this would also explain the old menus. Maybe it added too much to the bill of materials cost. Maybe they fear cannibalizing OM-1 sales. It's an absolutely huge let down, though. The old 20 MP sensor was first released with the E-M1 II in 2016, if I understand correctly.

For slightly less than a new OM-5, I could get a used Sony A7 III. For not that much more than a new OM-1, I could get a new Sony A7 IV. It's not apples to apples, because of lenses, but it does inspire some feelings of being left out.
 
I actually like a lot about this camera too. I don’t care for some of the button and menu limitations that the 5.3 has versus the 1.3, so I really hope they move the 1.3 menus and features over. Things like easy AF-mode control, and a programmable button for face detect on/off. Really about the only 2 custom features I wish my 5.3 had that were easily possible for software engineers. Throw in HHHR and LiveND, and it’s more than good enough for me. Might be an upgrade for down the road.
You’re in luck - it has all of this 😊
 
The EM5 iii is currently on sale in the US for $900. It’s a little tempting.
Just a note of caution - I bought my E-M5.3 in January of 2020 for $1200 (non-discount price; the camera had only come out a few months earlier). On FEBRUARY 1, they had it onsale for $1000.

Yes, not only did I get screwed to the wall, but the camera had only been out for about 3 months and they offered a $200 discount (don't forget, this was well BEFORE the E-M1.3 came out), so the new E-M5.3 was the most up-to-date camera they offered (arguably somewhat more advanced than the E-M1.2).

So, I think we might expect a quick discount on the new OM-5 too. At least I'm going to wait and see. You don't want to spend $900 on an E-M5.3 and have the price of the OM-5 drop to $1000 a month later!
 
I completely agree- I learned that lesson with the EP2. Never bought an Olympus camera "just announced" after that. Paid $120 for an EPL1 not long after it was introduced and the same for the EPM1. Just came to expect a high-turnover and steep discounts of the prior models.

I doubt this new entry will sell very well, and deep discounts will have to be offered.
 
Ignoring the camera itself and looking at things from a business perspective, could it be that OMS are simply finding their feet with an easy and relatively simple incremental update? It might also be a way of testing their design and delivery processes. I hope that the OM(s)5 is merely a stepping stone to 'better' things (new sensor, focus tracking, better menus, loads more video options, headphone socket). And maybe branding that doesn't suck (totally agree with @JensM on that one). Maybe 'Omni' as a name but no idea on a corresponding logo.
 
The viewfinder is 2.36M, that is low-end these days. It is 50% more than my EVF for the EP2. This simply does not compete with other entry-level cameras.
As a comparison, the entry-level Nikon Z5 ($1000) has 3690k-dot (Quad VGA) OLED.


The DPReview has such lines as "Upgraded processing gives an older 20 megapixel sensor a new lease on life."

Look for this camera to be deeply discounted in a few months. The real worry- if "OM Systems" is going to survive. This camera is way overpriced and underfeatured.
This camera needs a newer sensor and a higher resolution viewfinder. The website also needs someone to fix the broken links when looking for details about the camera. That is the fluffiest product page I've seen since the Nikon Df.
 
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The problem is not that it's a bad camera but rather it's probably not going to sell very well. For many folks the OM-5 shows that OMDS is going to be a small underfunded operation and that they may want to invest their gear money elsewhere. This is especially sad since I don't think Panasonic is all that interested in mu43 either at this point.
 
A lot of folks seem disappointed, but this is actually what I’ve been waiting for. Coming from having an E-M5ii, it’s added HHHR, Live ND filters, and starry sky AF, which even my old E-M1x didn’t have. It’s got a nicer OLED viewfinder, and is somehow even better weather sealed. Sure, the new menu system would have been nice (and really is a glaring absence), but as far as a compact, rugged travel camera goes, this ticks all the boxes for me. I don’t need an OM1 (even though their employee discount just kicked in for me on it, and it is attractive), because my R5 does all the animal tracking I could ever need, and slightly better according to most reviewers.
I plan on divesting in most my remaining m4/3 gear, but I’ll be hanging onto my 12-45 pro (and Leica 15mm) with every intention of buying the OM5 when they turn on the employee discount in a few months. It’ll be a great little weather sealed travel option that I don’t currently have.
Well, I’ve since went and purchased the OM-5, with it arriving this past Monday. I went out with it today on a hike and enjoyed using it.

Overall impressions? Again, I’m comparing this to the E-M5ii as that’s what I used to use. There’s a lot of plastic. I was kind of disappointed when I took it out of the very cheap box it arrived in. The days of Olympus having a box that matched the beauty of the camera are over. It was lighter than my old E-M5ii, but again, it was all plastic. To those reviewers that say it’s a super solid plastic that still inspires confidence, I’d question that. The plastic on my Canon R5 and associated lenses is a super high quality and incredibly dense plastic that does in fact inspire confidence; what’s on the OM-5 is not that. The battery door was kind of stuck closed, and needs a little whack to get it open. I suppose it’s a very well sealed battery compartment, but the entire camera didn’t seem to live up to the quality I was used to from Olympus. It also didn’t come with a battery charger, just the annoyingly non USB C cable for charging. Thankfully I already had a charger and 3 extra batteries en route.

Now once the battery was in, and the 12-45 pro mounted, it felt a little heftier. It does feel great in the hand…probably nicer than the e-m5ii. That camera I required the additional grip, whereas I doubt I’ll add it to this camera.

Now on to the use. It’s exactly what I was hoping, stepping up from the 5mii. The added benefits that my old e-m1x had of HHHR and live ND, as well as Starry Sky AF that that camera didn’t even have is awesome to be in such small package. The AF and face tracking in general is light years ahead of the m5ii, albeit equally light years behind my Canon R5. The OLED EVF is a nice step up, but it’s still such a low resolution that zooming in to verify critical focus is still a fool’s errand. The shutter sound isn’t as satisfying as the m5ii, but it’s not bad.

As a whole, it’s doing exactly what I wanted it to do. Be a small, tough (hopefully), weather sealed hiking/travel option that has a capable suite of tools built into it that can supplement or replace my much larger R5 when I either don’t want to, or find it’s impractical to bring a larger camera. It felt nice taking it out today, and made me realize that I missed having my m5ii. This camera probably won’t see a ton of use, but when it does, it’ll be because I have nothing else that can do what this one can. That said, it fills a gap that I had quite nicely. If it had the new menu system (still hopeful that’s possible with an update), and used USB C, it’d be damn near perfect for what it is. Well, that and if they still used metal. Either way, still glad I’ve added it to the stable.
 
Well, I’ve since went and purchased the OM-5, with it arriving this past Monday. I went out with it today on a hike and enjoyed using it.

Overall impressions? Again, I’m comparing this to the E-M5ii as that’s what I used to use. There’s a lot of plastic. I was kind of disappointed when I took it out of the very cheap box it arrived in. The days of Olympus having a box that matched the beauty of the camera are over. It was lighter than my old E-M5ii, but again, it was all plastic. To those reviewers that say it’s a super solid plastic that still inspires confidence, I’d question that. The plastic on my Canon R5 and associated lenses is a super high quality and incredibly dense plastic that does in fact inspire confidence; what’s on the OM-5 is not that. The battery door was kind of stuck closed, and needs a little whack to get it open. I suppose it’s a very well sealed battery compartment, but the entire camera didn’t seem to live up to the quality I was used to from Olympus. It also didn’t come with a battery charger, just the annoyingly non USB C cable for charging. Thankfully I already had a charger and 3 extra batteries en route.

Now once the battery was in, and the 12-45 pro mounted, it felt a little heftier. It does feel great in the hand…probably nicer than the e-m5ii. That camera I required the additional grip, whereas I doubt I’ll add it to this camera.

Now on to the use. It’s exactly what I was hoping, stepping up from the 5mii. The added benefits that my old e-m1x had of HHHR and live ND, as well as Starry Sky AF that that camera didn’t even have is awesome to be in such small package. The AF and face tracking in general is light years ahead of the m5ii, albeit equally light years behind my Canon R5. The OLED EVF is a nice step up, but it’s still such a low resolution that zooming in to verify critical focus is still a fool’s errand. The shutter sound isn’t as satisfying as the m5ii, but it’s not bad.

As a whole, it’s doing exactly what I wanted it to do. Be a small, tough (hopefully), weather sealed hiking/travel option that has a capable suite of tools built into it that can supplement or replace my much larger R5 when I either don’t want to, or find it’s impractical to bring a larger camera. It felt nice taking it out today, and made me realize that I missed having my m5ii. This camera probably won’t see a ton of use, but when it does, it’ll be because I have nothing else that can do what this one can. That said, it fills a gap that I had quite nicely. If it had the new menu system (still hopeful that’s possible with an update), and used USB C, it’d be damn near perfect for what it is. Well, that and if they still used metal. Either way, still glad I’ve added it to the stable.
From what I gather, it’s basically an E-M1.3 in the E-M5.3 body. While you can mount big heavy lenses to it, that’s when the plastic feels a bit uncertain, as I noticed slight body flex when having the PL100-400 on the 5.3. I suspect the Hoage E-M5.3 grip would fit on it, and it brings some confidence and solidity to such a small and light body.
 
From what I gather, it’s basically an E-M1.3 in the E-M5.3 body. While you can mount big heavy lenses to it, that’s when the plastic feels a bit uncertain, as I noticed slight body flex when having the PL100-400 on the 5.3. I suspect the Hoage E-M5.3 grip would fit on it, and it brings some confidence and solidity to such a small and light body.
I've used my EM5iii with the Oly 300 f4 which is 285g heavier than the PL100-400 and not noticed any flex. Generally, with bigger lenses, I tend to hold the lens with a camera attached rather than vice versa so maybe I'm not noticing any flexing. Where should I be looking for it? Do I need to worry?

I do like the functionality of the EM5iii. However, I miss the feel of my old EM5ii and was disappointed that the OM-5 didn't return to a similar build.
 
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