Olympus Malaysia launched its much-awaited OM-D (E-M5), a day after its worldwide unveiling. Inspired by the legendary OM-4 film camera, the classy OM-D is built around a new Live MOS Sensor with 16.05 megapixels and TruePic VI image processing engine.

The new Olympus OM-D (E-M5) in 2 colours

A newly-developed 3D Tracking AF system, 5-axis image stabilization, rapid 9 frames-per-second burst shooting and weather-sealed magnesium-alloy body are some of its headline features. The new built-in EVF system has a quick response display at 120fps for minimal lag. It does look better than my VF-2 when I did a brief comparison. For me, the magic of this new camera is its feel and handling.  All the buttons and dials falling in place, naturally.

The new OM-D is inspired by the original OM-4 film camera

During lunch, I had a chance to catch up with Mr Toshiyuki Terada (Manager, Group Leader of Product & Marketing Planning Group). Mr Terada, as expected, was tight-lipped when I asked him for more information on the sensor and would only say it is new and that there are some obvious improvements over the current m4/3 Pen E-P3. According to him, the new E-M5 has +1 stop noise improvement, +1/3 dynamic range improvement & 30% faster AF speed.

Mr Toshiyuki Terada (right) and Mr Tan Tick Boon, MD Olympus Malaysia

I also asked him about the relatively ‘slow’ speed of the new 12-50 mm weather-sealed lens . He explained that they designed this lens optimised for weight and size. Any brighter, it will have a weight payload, off-setting the compact advantage of the m4/3 system. He also said the camera’s firmware was still being fine-tuned at that time and thus I was not allowed to take home any sample pics. Nevertheless, their PR agency promised a review model the soonest.

Surprise, surprise. The optional VF-2 finder for the Pen fits and works

The new model is expected to arrive at shops here in Malaysia some time end of March. Prices and any bundle will be announced later. Look out for some sample pics and a review of the exciting OM-D here soon…

Update: You can see my pics with the new OM-D starting from here