The Perfect Combo

The OLYMPUS OMD E-M10 MARK II and 12mm F/2.0 LENS

As an Olympus Trailblazer I have the remarkable opportunity to shoot with practically any camera body and lens that Olympus makes. As a nature/landscape photographer I admit that I usually turn to one of the weather-sealed options from Olympus - either the E-M1 or the E-M5 II. After all, I often find myself in weather conditions that may not be favourable. So why am I writing a post on the E-M10 II and 12mm f/2.0? Quite honestly, more and more often I find myself reaching  for this exceptional combination. 

All of the images in this post were shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II and the M.Zuiko 12mm f/2.0 lens.

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The E-M10 II has three important features going for it - size, power and image quality. Let's look at each.

Size
The E-M10 II is incredibly compact. It measures 119.5mm (W) x 83.1mm (H) x 46.7mm (D) and weighs 390g with battery and memory card. At a glance, those numbers may not mean much, but when compared to some other cameras,  the E-M10 Mark II is 40% smaller and 22% lighter than the E-M1, and  approximately 55% smaller than the typical dSLR with an APS-C sensor.

Practically speaking, this means that the E-M10 II can go almost anywhere without weighing you down. I use it to capture landscapes, but at that size I can also take it anywhere else - my grandkids' school concert, a restaurant, or out for some street photography. If I only want to take one camera, this is the one that I pack. It easily fits into a coat pocket, small camera bag or a purse (my wife's purse in my case). 

The E-M10 II is a small, compact camera but a real powerhouse with a long list of professional features.

The E-M10 II has a great ergonomic design with front and rear control dials, a large LCD touch screen, 2 programmable function buttons, pop-up flash and large, bright electronic viewfinder.

The E-M10 II and 12mm f/2.0 lens easily fits into a jacket pocket.

Power
This is where the E-M10 II really shines. I am thoroughly impressed with the feature set built into this camera. For a complete list, check out the Olympus website, but for me some of the important features include;

• Great ergonomics. It may be small, but with the prominent thumb grip it never feels like it's going to fall out of my hands;
• Nicely positioned front and back control dials for changing camera settings quickly. For example, in Manual mode, the front dial controls aperture with your forefinger, while the rear controls shutter speed with your thumb. Fast, convenient, and they are nicely knurled giving excellent control. 
• 5-axis image stabilization. Olympus has the industry-leading, in-body image stabilization. I have done some hand-held shooting with shutter speeds as low as 1/2 second and achieved incredibly sharp results. 
• Professional features in an entry-level camera. Again, check out the product specs on the Olympus site, but some of my favourite features include;
  • Live Composite shooting
  • Time Lapse options
  • Focus Bracketing
  • High speed burst shooting at 8.5 frames per second
  • HD video at frame rates as high as 60fps
  • tilting LCD with touch control
  • 2.36M-dot OLED electronic viewfinder
  • compatibility with all m4/3 lenses

ISO 400, 1/100s @ f/9.0

Image Quality
A camera is only as good as the images that it produces and the 16.1 MP Live MOS sensor with TruePicVII processor delivers exceptional RAW and jpeg images. It provides  very good dynamic range with accurate exposure, very little noise, and good colour rendition. For a more detailed look, check out the review at dpreview.com where the E-M10 II earned a Silver award. 

Of course, image quality is highly dependent on the lens that you put in front of the sensor, and that leads me to the second part of the my post. 

The M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0
When I first picked up the 12mm f/2.0 I couldn't get over the small size - a mere 56mm (diameter) by 43mm. But don't let the size fool you. This piece of glass ranks as one of my favourite landscape and astrophotography lenses. At a maximum aperture of f/2.0, it can easily handle low-light conditions, both indoors and out, and has a wide field of view, almost 90 degrees, that is perfect for many shooting situations. 

With all-metal construction it feels solid in the hand, yet adds very little weight to camera - only 130 g. The total weight of the body and lens combination is 520g - just a little more than a 16-ounce Grande at Starbucks!

Perhaps my favourite feature of this lens (and many Olympus lenses) is the focus-ring clutch mechanism. Retract the focus ring to engage manual focusing. The lens includes distance and depth-of-field markings that makes zone focusing easier - a useful feature for street shooting. It also has solid stops at both ends of the focusing range. With a minimum focusing distance of 20cm you can also get incredibly close to your subject. 

The M.Zuiko 12mm f/2.0 lens is small, fast, bright and incredibly well built with all metal construction.

Final Words and Photos
If you are looking for a great camera and lens combination, the E-M10 Mark II and M.Zuiko 12mm f/2.0 is it. I use it as a supplementary landscape camera and all-round everyday shooter. It also makes a great camera for travel, where packing light is key. Of course, a single lens won't handle every situation. Olympus offers a variety of other prime lenses that you might want to consider packing in your pocket. Both the 17mm f/1.8 and the 25mm f/1.8 are solidly built lenses that will allow you to travel light but never sacrifice image quality. 

If you are looking for an entry-level camera that you can grow into, a supplementary model that you can add to your present kit, or a great travel option, the E-M10 Mark II and M.Zuiko 12mm f/2.0 combination is something you may want to consider. 

ISO 400, 1/250s @ f/10

ISO 200, 1/50s @ f/13

ISO 200, 0.6s @f/9.0

ISO 800, 1/13s @ f/7.1

ISO 1600, 1/40s @ f/2.5

ISO 1600, 1/200s @ f/2.0

ISO 1250, 6s @ f/2.0

ISO 1250, 25s @ f/2.0