The images are fantastic
How is the image quality?
The Olympus OM-D E-M5 (quite a mouthful) costs as much as a mid-level DSLR and after reading glowing reviews from photographers saying they replaced their DSLR for this camera I had unreasonably high expectations. Don't get me wrong, I love this little camera. The AF is insanely fast and accurate and the image quality is great. Here is the list of pros and cons I could come up with.Pros:- Super fast AF. Around the same speed as my Nikon D7000 and probably more accurate. It almost never missed focus.- Lightweight and small. Other have said with the pancake lens it will fit in your pants pocket. They must have really big pockets. There's no way I can fit it with the pancake lens on into a jean pocket. A jacket pocket sure, but not my pants.- Weather sealing!- Touch screen. This is an awesome feature. I can give my wife the camera and tell her to tap the screen on someones face and it takes the picture perfectly in focus.- Lots of lenses to choose from.- Image quality is really good.- Low light noise is pretty amazing for a sensor this small. If you're showing pics on the web, ISO 1600 and 3200 look great and I don't hesitate to use either. ISO 25600 is a marketing trick, it looks like my son drew a water color painting, ISO 12800 isn't great either.- It's built like a tank- The electronic viewfinder is a really nice addition although it's not as nice as an optical viewfinder on any DSLR I've ever used.- Large high quality LCD on the back- Battery life is very good. I took around 300 shots over a three day period and it was still at 3/4 full battery.- The way they positioned the two command dials works perfectly. The thumb and pointer finger rest on both allowing easy access to changing settings.Neutral:- The menu system is neither great nor terrible it just takes some getting used to.- The Buttons are mushy feeling and very small. The camera is small so it's kind of what I expected.Cons:- The included external flash is really weird. It's this tiny little thing you have to carry around in a pouch and it's really awkward to attach it to the camera. They should have just moved the viewfinder over to the side and put a flash in the camera with a hotshoe on top. It's a direct flash and doesn't allow you to pull it back and bounce it. I probably won't use it much if at all.- It's bit hard to firmly hold if you have big hands. I'm always afraid I'm going to drop it if I hold it with 1 hand. The grip could be improved.- The metal strap connectors are in a weird place and you have to put them in between your fingers to grip the camera.- The price was a little hard for me to swallow. For what you get it's probably the right price but it's still a lot of money.- This camera does not give DSLR quality images. I can easily spot any pic from my D7000 over a pic from the Olympus. The images are fantastic, don't get my wrong. But the look of the pictures from the camera is a little flatter and less 3 dimensional than a DSLR. It's hard to explain but the bigger sensor in bigger cameras does make a difference in image quality.Final ThoughtsYes the image quality is fantastic but for me this camera does not replace my Nikon D7000. Pictures from my Nikon just look slightly more realistic and have more pop to them. I bought this camera because I hate lugging my DSLR around. It's big and bulky and I never take it hiking or fishing with me. I wanted something that had close to DSLR quality images but in a tiny package I could carry everywhere. I wanted fast and accurate AF and I wanted it to be easy enough for my wife to use. I also wanted interchangeable lenses. With the Olympus I got everything I asked for. No it's not a DSLR replacement like I had hoped it would be. I wouldn't shoot weddings with this camera. Both types of cameras have their place and this little Olympus has found the perfect place into my bag. 