Olympus OM-D E-M1

The Olympus OM-D E-M1 is a compact mirrorless camera from 2013 built around the Micro Four Thirds system. At 497 g with a built-in electronic viewfinder, it is a body you can carry all day without really noticing.

In-body stabilisation and a weather-sealed body make it comfortable for travel and outdoor work, and the Micro 4/3 mount gives access to the Micro Four Thirds lens range.

Ownership involves a few compromises. There is one memory card slot, no built-in flash, and the BLN-1 battery is rated at 350 shots, so spare batteries and a little planning are part of the deal.

The 16.3 megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor keeps files manageable. The Optics score of 58 is modest, and the E-M1 sits around the middle of cameras in our database for Optics.

There are 800 autofocus points available, and the camera can shoot at up to 10 frames per second. That top rate suits short bursts of action, though it is a maximum rather than a promise of sustained shooting.

In-body stabilisation counteracts camera shake, so you can handhold at slower shutter speeds and still get sharp frames in dim light. It does nothing for subject movement, so it helps most with static scenes.

The ISO range runs from 200 to 25600, and the shutter reaches 1/8000. The electronic viewfinder offers 2.36 million dots, enough detail to judge focus and exposure before you press the shutter.

Recording is capped at Full HD resolution. The fastest frame rate available is 30 fps, which leaves no headroom for slow-motion work at higher frame rates.

Footage is saved as Motion JPEG files. If you need 4K output, this camera does not offer it.

A timelapse mode is built in, so the camera can capture a sequence of frames on its own. Assembled afterwards, those frames become a clip of a sunset or a building project without any external gear.

The Video score of 57 is modest, reflecting the resolution and frame-rate limits. For a photographer who shoots mostly stills and only needs occasional clips, those limits are easy to live with.

The 3-inch LCD carries just over a million dots, tilts for overhead and waist-level shots, and accepts touch input. Live view on the same screen makes tripod work and ground-level framing far easier.

The body is weather sealed, which helps protect it against dust and moisture outdoors.

There is no built-in flash, but the camera accepts an external flash unit when you need more light. Wi-Fi is built in for wireless connection, while GPS and Bluetooth are absent.

That mix earns the Features score of 70, a good rating built on the screen, the weather sealing and the touch input, with missing Bluetooth the notable wireless gap.

The E-M1 takes one SD, SDHC or SDXC card at a time. With no second slot, a long shoot means carrying spare cards and offloading images as you go.

The BLN-1 battery is rated at 350 shots. Treat it as a rating rather than an all-day promise; for a full day of shooting, a second battery is a sensible purchase.

There is no USB charging, so the battery cannot be topped up from a laptop or power bank through the camera. Charging therefore happens outside the camera, which shapes how you prepare for a shoot.

The Storage & Battery score of 21 is limited, and these three facts explain why. None of them stops the camera from working; they simply ask you to plan cards and power more carefully.