Olympus OM-D E-M1, first glance. – Anthony Pease Photography

Every part feels well made and nice to the touch.

Olympus OM-D E-M1

There is no denying, I am a full frame man. I just love using mine, I know what it will do and what I can get away with when using it. There is however one drawback, it’s weight. Often it doesn’t cause me any real issues, I have known no different and am more than used to carrying two bodies plus two or three lenses and all additional kit when out shooting cycle events or out in the hills doing my landscape work.

Although weight has never bothered me, carrying less of it certainly makes life a little easier. When bike packing or wild camping, weight often is a concern, every gram counts and every square inch of space is accounted for. This led me to start thinking about a smaller camera that will still take amazing images but weigh less and take up less space. With so much choice out there now, where would I start?

It just so happened that a friend at Olympus offered to loan me one of their OM-D E-M1 to trial. Not one for turning offers like this down, I jumped at the chance as I had heard only good things about these at my local camera shop (Carmarthen Cameras).

On first inspection, it feels great in the hand. The ergonomics are brilliant for a small camera and straight away it felt like a quality bit of kit. All switches and dials have that reassuring feel to them, they also feel like they will be easy to use and navigate whilst holding the viewfinder to your eye.

There some really simple design triumphs on this little camera, a few I noticed straight away are the tapered edges on the dials, the lockable main dial, touch screen controls and lockable lens hood. These are just what I noticed within the first few minutes of holding this sleek bit of kit.

So far, so good and I have yet to take a shot with it. This next phase is always the tricky one and it’s the one that put a pause on me using this camera for a few weeks. Getting used to another manufacturer’s controls and navigating your way around its features is always tricky. Mainly concentrating on commissions and event photography at the moment I have not really had the time I usually have to just wander the hills and valley floors enjoying myself and taking pictures. All of my photography lately has needed me to be 100% confident in the use of my equipment, so this has restricted my use of this camera, although I have managed to grab a few images with it whilst on my travels. Every time I pick it up, I find myself starting to get used to it and its controls and I am pretty impressed with the results so far. One thing is for sure, I love its size and weight, it fits into my cycling rucksack with ease and I have found myself taking it with me when I wouldn’t normally take my camera due to size and weight.