OM System OM-1 review

The OM System OM-1 is the last camera that will ever wear the Olympus badge. Does it live up to its legendary namesake?

5 Star Rating
Olympus OM-1
(Image: © James Artaius)

Digital Camera World Verdict

Don't let the "OM-1" name fool you into thinking this is a camera from yesteryear – this packs the technology of tomorrow. The world's only IP53 weather-sealed camera, the world's first Cross Quad Pixel AF camera, it is also packed with bleeding-edge computational photography tech, image stabilization that blows everything else out of the water, and ISO performance that promises parity with full frame sensors. However, the caveat is that this is only a 20.4MP sensor – albeit a stacked one, which can deliver 120fps shooting, 80MP pixel-shift stills and 4K 60p ProRes Raw video. You won't find this much firepower in another camera, even one twice the size.

Pros

  • +

    120fps burst shooting

  • +

    IP53 weather sealing

  • +

    4K 60p 12-bit ProRes Raw

  • +

    8 stops of stabilization

Cons

  • -

    Native 20.4MP resolution

  • -

    No 8K video

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The OM System OM-1 has a lot to live up to. While Olympus wasn’t exactly unknown when the original Olympus OM-1 was revealed in 1972, the revolutionary downsizing of the 35mm SLR propelled it towards becoming a major player in the camera market. By the end of the 1970s, Olympus was one of the ‘big five’ Japanese camera makers along with Canon, Minolta, Nikon and Pentax.

Yoshihisa Maitani’s remarkably compact design – which was largely achieved mechanically as this was before microchips were widely used – set the trend towards smaller 35mm SLRs and Olympus basked in the glory of the OM-1 for many years.

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Paul Burrows
Editor

Paul has been writing about cameras, photography and photographers for 40 years. He joined Australian Camera as an editorial assistant in 1982, subsequently becoming the magazine’s technical editor, and has been editor since 1998. He is also the editor of sister publication ProPhoto, a position he has held since 1989. In 2011, Paul was made an Honorary Fellow of the Institute Of Australian Photography (AIPP) in recognition of his long-term contribution to the Australian photo industry. Outside of his magazine work, he is the editor of the Contemporary Photographers: Australia series of monographs which document the lives of Australia’s most important photographers.

With contributions from