Shooting with the new Olympus OM-D E-M5 for a little more than three weeks now, I can only say that the camera is a pretty capable tool from the perspective of
an aviation enthusiast and photographer. The camera is fast, responsive and probably the most important thing for aviation photography, the focus tracking system, is a treat!
I can’t say more. Usually shooting with a 1Ds Mark III I was more than positively surprised when I saw how capable the E-M5 behaves when tracking arriving and departing planes.
Also the very good viewfinder and the 4 FPS (with focus tracking) do their part for making this a great tool for aviation enthusiasts.
The camera is super sturdy and the weather sealing is living up to the promises Olympus made when announcing the OM-D E-M5.
I just put the weather sealing to a test when shooting a series of images of a United States Coast Guard Gulfstream 5 here in Wellington during a fierce southerly spiced up with heavy rain. Me and the camera were drenched.
When it comes to the viewfinder I especially like the response of the updating viewfinder image between 4FPS burst exposures while still maintaining Autofocus. That makes it super easy to follow fast moving objects.
Enough has been said and written about this camera. The only point I want to state here is the fact that the E-M5 is an almost perfect tool for aviation photography.
The only drawback so far is the lack of native long and fast glass. That’s not a flaw of the camera itself though but rather an issue of the micro four thirds format.
