Introduction

Ease of Use

At first glance you'd be hard-pressed to spot any differences at all between the new OM-5 Mark II and 2022's O-M5 model.

In fact, that's because there have been very few significant changes made to the camera's exterior and controls.

The OM System OM-5 Mark II is virtually identical to its predecessor - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" seems to have been the design team's mantra.

It's fair to say that owners of the previous model will feel right at home using the new OM-5 Mark II if they decide to upgrade.

The Mark II has a redesigned grip that is slightly bigger at the front, with the new camera measuring 125.3 x 85.2mm x 52.0mm and weighing in at 370g body-only, making it ever so slightly bigger and heavier than the original.

Note that there's no longer an optional handgrip accessory available from OM System as with the OM-5, so you'll have to rely on third-party options if you want to further enhance your grip on the camera.

Just like its predecessor, the OM-5 Mark II is rated dust and splash-proof to the IP-53 standard, which makes it best in class for this specific feature at the time of writing.

Olympus say that it can safely be used in a heavy rain storm with no adverse effects, and it also offers freezeproof protection down to -10°C.

The new USB-C port allows the camera to be charged from a power bank whilst also complying with EU regulations., but unfortunately it doesn't also support power delivery and fast charging.

Thankfully the OM-5 II does now use the newest, much clearer menu system that debuted on the O-M1 model, something that we were disappointed not to see featured on the original OM-5.

The new model introduces a dedicated CP (Computational Photography) button, as previously seen on the more expensive OM-3 step-up model, making it much easier to access the various modes.

Unfortunately this has come at the expense of the exposure compensation button which has been exchanged for the CP button on top of the camera, so it's not all good news.

The only other physical change is the relabelling of the AEL/AFL button to the new AF On button, although again you can customise it to suit your way of working.

Starting from the front, the OM System OM-5 Mark II has a re-programmable depth-of-field preview button located to the bottom-left of the lens mount, a round lens release button to the right, plus an AF assist lamp above. 

The slightly larger handgrip features a protruding design and the use of a leather-like texture, with enough room vertically to accommodate three fingers.

The OM System OM-5 Mark II offers 6.5-stops of compensation complete with auto panning detection, with Olympus claiming that handheld shutter-speeds as low as 1/8th second are easily obtainable. 

Even better, by synchronizing the in-lens IS of supported lenses, such as the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm F4 IS PRO zoom, with the camera body's sync IS, the OMD EM5 Mark IIII offers up to an incredible 7.5 shutter speed steps of compensation.

The OM System OM-5 Mark II can create a 50 megapixel JPEG or an 80 megapixel RAW file in the High Resolution mode. This is achieved by shifting the sensor in half-pixel steps and capturing eight images over a period of one second.

As its name suggests, the Handheld High Res Shot mode allows you to hand-hold the camera and create either a 25 megapixel JPEG or a 50 megapixel JPEG or RAW file, although it's still best suited to stationary subjects.

The new model continues to use exactly the same dual phase- and contrast-based auto-focus system with 121 selectable AF points which are all cross-type as the OM-5.

There are no subject-detect AI modes on this camera, just the latest version of OM System's Face/Eye AF, which features better detection of smaller faces in the frame and if the face is turned sideways away from the camera.

You can also quickly switch between multiple detected faces in the frame and you can toggle face detection on and offer via the push of a button.

The continuous shooting speed is the same too, offering 10fps shooting with full time AF/AE tracking or 30fps without.

The Mark II also inherits the Pro Capture mode from the previous model. In this special shooting mode the camera takes a 30fps burst, with 15 of those frames saved before you actually pressed the shutter, helping to ensure that you don't miss that vital moment.

Manual focus enthusiasts will be delighted to learn that the Olympus OM-5 Mark II has a focus peaking feature, which enables precise focusing even without magnifying into the live view feed, with multiple options available for the outline colour. 

On top of the camera, there's a a power switch and customizable drive and display buttons on the left.

The power switch is still positioned on the left-hand side of the flash hotshoe. The placement of the on/off switch might well raise a few eyebrows as it means you will almost always need to use your left hand to turn on the camera, which is hardly an ideal solution.

Actually, this is a design nod to the Olympus OM-1 film camera that had its power switch in virtually the same location – which is all well and good, but we’d still prefer it to be in a position where you can easily reach it with your right thumb or forefinger.

There are two raised semi-circular buttons which provide quick access to two sets of settings. 

Press the top one and you can adjust the camera’s drive modes and self-timer settings with the rear and front control dials, respectively. Hit the bottom button and you can cycle through the various display modes offered by the camera. 

Also on the top of the camera is a vacant flash hotshoe that sits directly above the lens. There is no pop-up flash on this camera.

There's a shooting mode dial on the right hand-side when viewed from the rear, complete with a lock button in the centre.

On most other cameras that have a lockable dial, you need to hold down the centered button while turning the dial – on the OM System OM-5 Mark II, the mode dial locks with one press of the locking pin and unlocks with a second press, which is a clever idea. 

The shooting mode options remain the same as the original O-M5's, being program, aperture priority, shutter priority, manual, video, Art Filters, scene modes, and - the most obviously highlighted of all in green - iAuto mode. 

There are also two other modes on the shooting mode dial - Bulb for Live Composite long exposures and Custom for quickly accessing your own customised settings.

Also over on the the right of the external flash hotshoe are a small-ish shutter release button, with the OM System OM-5 Mark II readying itself for action in a second or so.

Squeeze down halfway on the shutter release and the OM-5 Mark II very quickly responds thanks to the TruePic IX processor, with the AF point flashing up in green with an accompanying bleep of confirmation (if AF is enabled).

The shutter release is encircled by the first of two command dials. This new model inherits the 2x2 Dual Control system first seen way back on the Pen E-P5. This comprises two top-mounted control wheels and a function lever on the rear that’s easy to reach with your right thumb. 

The function lever has two settings. In the first position, moving the control dial on the front of the camera adjusts the aperture while the dial on the back adjusts the shutter speed. 

On the second setting, the dials change the ISO value and white balance respectively. You can also configure the switch’s operation too – for example, you can turn it into a handy AF/MF toggle if that makes more sense to you. 

The native sensitivity range of the Mark II and the original OM-5 is identical - ISO 200-25600, which can be expanded down to ISO 64.

Completing the top-plate are the previously mentioned CP (Computational Photography) button and a red video record button. 

The OM System OM-5 Mark II can record cine-standard 4K videos at 24fps with a bit rate of up to 237Mbps in the DCI 4K mode (4096 x 2160 pixels) or UHD 4K footage at 30fps and a 102Mbps bit-rate. Full HD 1080p and HD 720p recording is also supported, plus Full HD 120p slow-motion. 

It can use its excellent 5-axis sensor-shift image stabiliser which translates into surprisingly smooth hand-held footage, even when using a medium telephoto lens. 

Manual exposure can be enabled for videos, although you do have to rotate the mode dial to the Movie position to take advantage of this. You can start filming in practically any other shooting mode too, but in that case, videos will always be recorded with auto exposure.

It also has a dedicated 3.5mm Mic jack on the body for better sound recording for vlogging, a very welcome inclusion, and you can also use it as a webcam straight out of the box simply by connecting it to a computer via USB, with no additional software required.

The Mark II now additionally supports the OM-Cinema 1 and 2 profiles for video from the OM-3. It also adds a red frame and tally lamp during recording.

Moving to the rear of the OM-5 Mark II, there's a built-in electronic viewfinder complete with diopter control to the left. 

The Olympus OM-5 II has a pretty decent OLED viewfinder offering a 2.36-million-dot resolution, 1.37x magnification and a 27mm eyepoint. The magnification is a little low, although the eyepoint is greater, making it better for glasses-wearers.

There's the same 3-inch articulated rear LCD screen as seen on the original model, with a resolution of 1037K dots and capacitive touchscreen technology. 

As the monitor is side-mounted, it's a fully articulated vari-angle display that can be rotated to the front for easier selfies and closed against the rear of the camera to protect the screen.

The OM5II features touch screen operation, although if you're not a fan you can for the most part get away without using it much at all, as there are a plethora of physical buttons which are either dedicated to specific functions or can be customized to suit. 

Dragging a finger to move the AF point around the screen is a quick and easy way of following the subject, though inadvertently subsequently tapping it will cause the shutter to fire. This facility can be deactivated by prodding the relevant shutter button icon on the touch screen, but it's just as easy to accidentally turn it on again.

There is a dedicated ISO button just above the rear thumb-rest, along with the Mode 1/2 switch that incorporates an AF On button within it.

Just below this control and the usefully protruding, textured thumb-rest are dedicated and self-explanatory Menu and Info buttons, the latter toggling through the various LCD views. 

Underneath again is a option-less 4-way navigation controller with a central OK button - pressing this accesses the OM-5 Mark II's quick menu system, a handy onscreen grid of icons that provide quick access to most of the camera's main settings. 

In conjunction with the camera's plethora of external controls and its customisable buttons, this makes the OM-5 Mark II straight-forward to use. The final controls on the rear are the Delete button and Playback buttons.

Chunky lugs for attaching the supplied shoulder strap hang at either side of the camera, thankfully out of the way of fingers and controls.

On the left hand flank, when viewing the camera from the back, are three covered ports for a standard 3.5mm stereo microphone jack, remote control, and a shared cover for the mini HDMI output and new USB-C ports.

You can charge the camera on the go via the USB-C port, a great feature that is appearing in most new cameras.

On the right is a sliding plastic cover protecting the single UHS-II memory card slot, which helps the camera keep up with all those high-speed bursts.

On the bottom of the EM-5 Mark IIII is a screw thread for attaching a tripod, with the lockable battery compartment alongside. 

The BLS-50 rechargeable lithium-ion battery supplied with the OM-5 Mark II is good for around 310 shots or 60 minutes of video recording, the same as on the OM-5.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 20.4 megapixel Super Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 8Mb.

The OM System OM-5 Mark II produced images of excellent quality during the review period. It produces noise-free images at ISO 64 up to 1600, with limited noise starting to appear at ISO 3200. ISO 6400 exhibits quite visible noise and loss of fine detail, and the fastest settings of ISO 12800 and 25600 are even noisier but still usable for small prints and web use. The corresponding raw files are inevitably more noisy at lower ISOs.

The image stabilisation system works excellently for both stills and video, even when hand-holding the camera at very slow shutter speeds. The High resolution mode can create a 50 megapixel JPEG or an 80 megapixel RAW file, either hand-held or on a tripod, although it only really works for non-moving subjects.

The various Art Filters and Picture Styles produce special effects that would otherwise require you to spend a lot of time in the digital darkroom. 

Noise

There are 9 ISO settings available on the OM System OM-5 Mark II. The base sensitivity is ISO 200 but there is an expanded low sensitivity setting equivalent to ISO 64. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting, with JPEG on the left and the RAW equivalent on the right.

JPEG	RAW
ISO 64	ISO 64
ISO 200	ISO 200
ISO 200	ISO 200
ISO 400	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 800
ISO 1600	ISO 1600
ISO 3200	ISO 3200
ISO 6400	ISO 6400
ISO 12800	ISO 12800
ISO 25600	ISO 25600

File Quality

The file quality settings available on the OM System OM-5 Mark II include Normal, Fine and Superfine for JPEGs, and you can also shoot in Olympus’s proprietary ORF raw file format.

SuperFine	Fine
Normal	RAW

High Resolution Shot

The OM System OM-5 Mark II can create an 80, 50 or 25 megapixel JPEG or RAW file in the High Resolution Shot mode, achieved by shifting the sensor in half-pixel steps and capturing eight images over a period of one second.

There's also a handheld 50 or 25 megapixel High Resolution Shot mode, so you don't have to mount the camera on a tripod or other stable surface to obtain sharp results.

Off	On / Tripod / 80M
On / Handheld / 50M

HDR

Off

HDR1

HDR2

Multiple Exposure

Picture Modes

Olympus' Picture Modes are essentially pre-set combinations of saturation, contrast and sharpness, except for the i-Enhance mode that aims to optimise each photo individually. You can tailor each Picture Mode to your needs.

i-Enhance

Vivid

Natural

Muted

Portrait

Monochrome

Underwater

Art Filters

The OM System OM-5 Mark II offers 16 ‘art filters’, some with multiple modes, which allow you to quickly apply an artistic effect to a photo before taking it.

Off

Pop Art I

Pop Art II

Soft Focus

Pale&Light Color I

Pale&Light Color II

Light Tone

Grainy Film I

Grainy Film II

Pin Hole I

Pin Hole II

Pin Hole III

Diorama I

Diorama II

Cross Process I

Cross Process II

Gentle Sepia

Dramatic Tone I

Dramatic Tone II

Key Line I

Key Line II

Watercolor I

Watercolor II

Vintage I

Vintage II

Vintage III

Partial Color I

Partial Color II

Partial Color III

Bleach Bypass I

Bleach Bypass II

Instant Film

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the OM System OM-5 Mark II camera, which were all taken using the 20.4 megapixel Superfine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The OM System OM-5 Mark II enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some OM System RAW (ORF) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movies & Video

Product Images

Conclusion

The new OM-5 Mark II from OM System (formerly Olympus) is a very modest upgrade of the three-year-old OM-5, which was itself a gentle evolution of 2019's EM-5 Mark III.

OM-5 owners may be asking themselves if there any reasons to upgrade to the shiny new model, and the answer is "not that many".

If you found the grip on the original to be too small, the new version is slightly larger and easier to use, whilst the new CP button provides quick access to all of the great computational photography features, albeit at the literal expense of the exposure compensation button.

The upgraded USB-C port is a must have on any camera released in 2025, if only to comply with EU regulations, although it's disappointing that it doesn't support fast charging.

The Mark II version finally uses the newest, much clearer menu system that first debuted on the O-M1 model, bringing it in line with the other OM System models and therefore making it easier to switch between them.

On the video side, the recently introduced OM-Cinema 1 and 2 profiles are present for easier colour grading, while the red frame and tally lamp are handy reminders during recording.

Otherwise, the Mark II and original OM-5 are essentially identical, offering the same core image quality, video performance, class-leading weather-proofing, effective High Resolution mode and excellent image stabilisation system.

It's probably fair to say that the OM-5 II is a much more enticing proposition for would-be OM System owners rather than upgraders from the previous version. It still makes a fine choice as a rugged, portable, go anywhere camera that is a pleasure to shoot with, but don't expect too many surprises from this 2025 iteration...

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	5
Features	4
Ease-of-use	5
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	3.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the OM System OM-5 Mark II.

Your Comments