Olympus debuts the waterproof, dustproof OM-D E-M5

Olympus has debuted its new OM-D E-M5 that takes the past engineering expertise of the micro four thirds standard and couples it with enhanced features and new innovations on the inside. The E-M5 comes with an electronic viewfinder system. Unlike an optical VF, it lets you frame images and get creative with them, too - controlling highlights and shadows, white balance, magnification and aspect before taking the shot. The E-M5’s image quality owes a great deal to its new 16M Live MOS sensor that is utilised by the TruePic VI image processor. It aims to give you all the detail of 16-megapixel resolution, plus reduced noise, high range of sensitivity, a wide dynamic range, rich gradation and accurate colour reproduction. 

Rugged cameras FTW!

Here are few of the features of the E-M5:

Image Quality

• Electronic viewfinder
• 16 megapixel LiveMOS sensor
• TruePic VI image processor
• 5-axis image stabilization for movies & stills.
• ISO sensitivity up to ISO 25,600

Speed

• World's fastest auto focus system as of February 2012
• 9 fps sequential shooting.
• Quick response touchscreen panel.
• Eye sensor for automatic Live View / EVF switchover

Reliability

• Dust proof and splash proof
• Magnesium alloy body
• EVF creative control function.
• 3-inch tilting OLED monitor
• Full HD Movie with stereo

The recording formats supported include 

• RAW - 12 bit
• RAW & JPEG - Yes parallel recording
• JPEG - Yes
• Aspect ratio - 4:3 / 3:2 / 16:9 / 6:6 / 3:4
• MPO (3D) - Yes

It’s got the world’s fastest AF system with improved functionality. This camera also claims to have the world’s first 5-axis image stabilisation: visible and controllable through the viewfinder, this in-built mechanism compensates for every blur giving you sharper stills and movies. They’ve got some good build quality to the camera as well. The magnesium alloy body has a dust- and splashproof design that can handle some pretty rugged conditions. 

As far as rugged cameras are concerned, we’ve reviewed the Nikon Coolpix AW100 and the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FT3 and we quite liked both the cameras. However, it’s important to note that they were point and shoots, whereas this one is a micro four thirds camera. Pricing hasn't been disclosed as of now, but we’re definitely waiting to get our hands on this one and test it in some extreme environments.