If I Could Get Word To The Olympus Product Development Team About What I Would Like To See In the Successor To The E-M1 Mark II, Here Is What I Would Tell Them

Red, Yellow and Blue; Cumbres and Toltec Narrow Gauge Railroad, Chama, New Mexico.
It's all about the color. (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II; 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ 31mm; 1/200th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

First of all, I really have no major criticisms of the Olympus E-M1 Mark II camera.  It is a pretty terrific camera by any measure, in my opinion.  However, as with most things, there are some things that in the next generation camera a) could be improved and b) could include some personal "wants" that I would like to have added.  

I've been using Olympus M4/3 cameras since May, 2012.  Its hard to believe that it has been almost 7 years.  Over the years I have been very pleased with my Olympus gear.  I've made almost 37,000 images with the five M4/3 cameras I've owned (Olympus E-M5, E-M1, E-M1 Mark II, Pen-F and the Panasonic GX-1) in that time frame.  I still own and use the Mark II and Pen-F.  I think by now I have a pretty good handle on what works for me, what I think can be improved and what hasn't worked so well for my kinds of photography.  Also, by using cameras from other manufacturers as well, such as my Fujifilm gear and my former Nikon gear, I have some perspective on what worked well on those cameras that I think could be adopted on an E-M1 Mark III camera.  Of course, this is all selfish on my part.  Lol.

I do believe Olympus is now under great market pressure and has to be more competitive in the future to survive.  Raising the bar in the form of improvements to their cameras can help them compete with Canon, Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm.  If they can't maintain a competitive superiority, they may not survive as the "Big Boys" are putting out cutting edge cameras with lots of advancements at similar or lower prices that does Olympus.  As customers realize this, many will turn to the larger sensor and less expensive cameras, in my opinion.  Olympus needs to stop that before it starts.  I want Olympus and micro 4/3 not only to survive but flourish in the future.

I don't have a lot of "wants," but there are several things that I would like to see Olympus implement and improve to make their M4/3 camera more competitive with APS-C and full frame digital cameras.  Here are mine, not necessarily in order of importance to me.  But each of these will make for a camera with better image quality and a greater ease of use.

1) First and foremost a new generation sensor is needed.  The current sensor was introduced with the Pen-F in January 2016.  That is ancient in digital photography terms.  You know the sensor had to be developed and manufactured using technology at least two to three years prior to that.  A new sensor is badly needed.  I don't necessarily need more pixels as 20mp is fine, but I would like Olympus to work on a better dynamic range and better noise performance.  Those two aspects would be welcomed by all.

2) A joystick.  Did I mention joystick?  A joystick would be perfect.  Joystick.  Joystick!  Did I make my point?  So handy and efficient.  I don't think I would buy another camera that is without one.  Seriously, it makes that much difference to my use of a camera.

3) Improvements, such as those in the E-M1X, to continuous and tracking focus.  Also, implement, again as in the X, the ability to customize focusing targets.  AF-S is superb with the MKII but as many improvements as Olympus has made in continuous and tracking focus ability, the new generation cameras, sensors and processors should be leveraged to make it even more effective.  It really shouldn't be a technological stretch, at this point.

Aspen Grove, Kit Carson National Forest, New Mexico (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II; 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ 57mm;
1/125th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

4) It's time Olympus upgraded their image files to 14-bit.  Twelve bit files are two generations ago when it comes to image quality and has fallen way behind all of the other manufacturers when it comes to competing with larger format systems.

5) Upgrade the EVF to 3.69 million dot (or higher) with the larger magnification of the E-M1X— and make it an OLED.  The 3.69 million dot EVF in my X-T3 is more than a minor step up in color, contrast, seeing into the shadows and highlights than what is available on my MKII.  I think this makes a big difference in user experience and a better and faster electronic viewfinder may convert some optical viewfinder folks over to electronic viewfinders.  Panasonic has set the new bar with a  5.76 million dot EVF and a 120hz refresh rate.  I have not looked through that EVF, but I do wish I had a camera with one.

6) UHS II capabilities in both memory card slots.  It just doesn't make sense to those who set their cameras to "backup" from one slot to the other and be hampered by the second slot only being much slower at UHS I.  The only way to maximize write speed is to have only one fast UHS II card in slot 1 and no second card at all.  So why have a second card slot at all if it that slow?  (I know, backup)  As soon as you place a second card in slot 2 and set it to backup, you are only at UHS I speeds when clearing the camera's buffer.  That is artificially hampering and not necessary.

7) A "My Menu" or "Favorites" screen for saving those settings that we need to find and change quickly.  This is a no-brainer with today's cameras.  The Super Control Panel is convenient but there are many, many things that have to be hunted down in the menu system to be found and changed.  Olympus did it with the X, now they can do it with the next gen MKII.  Sounds like a firmware update to me.  In fact, they should retrofit it to the Mark II.

8) A dedicated exposure compensation dial.  Please, please, please.  Currently, there are only 2 dials on the Mark II.  We need three.  Three.  Three is perfect.  Two is one less than we really need to be efficient sand operate the camera as it should be operated.  A dial for shutter speeds.  A dial for apertures.  A dial for exposure compensation.  Three.

Often times I find myself in a situation where I need a specific shutter speed and a specific aperture but with changing light.  I set my camera on manual with auto ISO and need to use a dedicated exposure compensation dial to control the auto ISO.  This works wonderfully on my Fujifilm cameras.  Currently, with the Mark II, you have to a) program the 1/2 switch to allow the changing of the functions of the front and rear command dials when the switch is changed between position 1 and position 2, then b) change the function of the command dials so that when you are in manual mode, the rear dial acts as an exposure compensation dial instead of either controlling the shutter or aperture.  This requires you to use the 1/2 switch in position 1 for control of your apertures and shutter speeds, then change it to position 2 to engage the rear dial as an exposure compensation dial, then switch it back to position 1 to return to shutter/aperture control.  It shouldn't be this difficult.  A third dial is what is needed so you can use that dial for exposure compensation in all circumstances.  Pretty straightforward. 

If not enough real estate on the camera's top panel is the issue I would even consider a function button dedicated to the exposure compensation function.  Push and hold the button, rotate the rear dial and you change exposure compensation.  Release the button and the rear dial returns to either aperture or shutter speed, depending upon your preference.  Just don't do it like it was done on the Fujifilm X-H1, which is horrible.

9) Touch screen function for the menu on the LCD.  We have partial touch screen function now, which is welcomed, but expand it to include the entire menu.  Much quicker than scrolling.

10) Subject recognition in tracking focus. However, it probably can't be done with only one Tru Pic VIII processor.  It takes 2 in the E-M1X and there isn't the room in a MKII successor and the MKIII doesn't need to be any larger than the MKII.  It is large enough.

11) The ability to change color profiles, color by color, as can be done in the Pen-F.  I have always been a big fan of the old Kodachrome, especially Kodachrome II or Kodachrome 25.  With the Pen-F I can go in and change the saturation level of about 12 different colors allowing me to mimic Kodachrome or any other film.  It is not as sophisticated as the Fujifilm film simulations but implementing what you have already developed for your other cameras into the MKIII would give the user the ability to customize color to their liking rather than having just Natural, Muted, Vivid, etc.  You've already written the software and menu screens to do this for the Pen-F.  I'm just asking that Olympus expand its implementation.  In fact, give us a firmware update so I can do it with my MKII!  That would be great!

Part of the old cemetery at Taos Pueblo, Taos, New Mexico (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II; 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ 25mm;
1/320th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

12) Add another custom setting, i.e, (C4).  There are so many ways to customize the camera that an additional Custom setting beyond the three included would allow photographers to save more than just three.  That way, one could retain a set of preferences for normal shooting, sports or wildlife, special color profiles, AF-S versus AF-C versus AF-C + Tracking, etc.  Custom settings make it really efficient to change a large group of setting instantly.  I find three one to few.  But that is just me.

I haven't mentioned anything about video.  I don't have any interest in video and I've never used the video capabilities on any of my cameras.  You might have some video wants and needs for the next generation camera.

One other thing that I didn't mention above.  I really dislike the "flippy screen," as the LCD has become to be called when you can rotate it out along side the camera and rotate the screen around 180 degrees.  That is fine for YouTubers and selfie obsessed individuals but it totally ruins the tripod experience for those of us who use the camera for still photography.  Only a small percentage of individuals complain about having an LCD screen which doesn't allow them to see themselves, but the majority of photographers don't need it and wished Olympus would make a camera without it.  Since this is a little controversial, I left it out of my list.

That is about it for me.  I'm not asking for anything really beyond a logical progression of improvements that a manufacturer would make in their products.  What's unique about this case is that micro4/3 is getting clobbered by those "influencers" who are pounding the "full frame" drum and predicting the format's demise.  In order to survive and prosper, Olympus needs to not only match the other manufacturers cameras, but keep ahead of the competition and continue to make their case that M4/3 can fulfill the needs of most photographers under most circumstances—at a price that makes sense in today's digital camera world.

All of you M4/3 users—do you have other wants or suggestions for improvements in the next generation cameras?  Join in and leave a comment.  Who knows, maybe someone with influence at Olympus will see this and take it back to the product development team.  We can hope!

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