When smartphones have become so advanced that they have taken over the place of regular hand-held cameras nowadays, there seems to be little compulsion left for photographers to shell out money for a dedicated snapper. Olympus thinks that its newest offering can still invite consumers to ditch their camera phones with the new OM-D E110 Mark III
The gadget is a mirrorless camera that features touch-based interfaces that has been a growing trend among camera-makers who want to make their cameras more like smartphones in order to provide a sense of familiarity with users. Olympus wanted its newest offering to also function more like a smartphone; so much so; that users may even replace their smartphones with it in the process. The camera is not just a run-of-the-mill offering however, and is directly targeted at the professional photographer, offering more features and better resolution compared to what one would find on a smartphone camera, and this is where the OM-D E110 Mark III shines.
Mark III is the latest addition to its popular E-M10 line, which only had its last update two years ago. It seems almost coincidental that Olympus would release a new portable camera the same time that Canon releases their new M100 mirrorless camera as well. But while the latter is targeted at the amateur and beginner photographer, Olympus’s offering is set to be more equipped for the seasoned photographer. To start with, it offers 4K recording right off the bat and also comes with five-axis stabilization support for video, in order to make them as smooth as possible.
The camera also increases its ISO range, from 1,600 to 6,400 now. The camera retains the stellar 121-point autofocus system that was present on the earlier E-M1 Mark II, along with the TruePic VIII image processor. This will allow for shooting at burst mode at 8.8 frames per second. The battery has also improved slightly, offering at least 330 shots on a single charge. This is definitely a better option than Canon’s M100.
The camera uses a 2.36 million dot OLED EVF, a flip-out screen and can shoot 1080p video at an impressive 120 frames per second. Just like every other camera in this segment, the Mark III supports Wi-Fi and comes with the proprietary Olympus Image Share app that allows the camera to be tethered to the user’s smartphone. The camera still comes with the same 16MP sensor as its predecessor did, but that is not necessarily a bad feature, since it will still be able to produce high-quality images.
Priced around the same range as the Canon M100, the Mark III be available for $650 for just the body and $800 with the M.Zuiko 14-42mm EZ lens. Perhaps the only drawback would be the inability of the camera to have as much of a variety of interchangeable lenses as its competition does.