Olympus OM-D E-M1

This one is for the discerning photographer and geek alike

It was like love at first sight; a camera with retro looks, yet had the tech to take on any semi-professional camera, a body that can take on both beaches and frozen mountains, a sophisticated autofocus system and buttons for just about everything, this was like a photographer and geek’s dream come true.

Three weeks with the camera, taking some shots of sporting action, landscapes, portraits and some late night star trails, the camera emerged a winner in all situations. Its in-body 5-axis image stabilisation means sharp stills or videos even at slower shutter speed.

The camera’s 16 Megapixel sensor puts out some stunning images, and with its super fast autofocus system it’s easier to capture all that action. A buttons-for-everything approach means that you can change settings anytime even when you are holding up the camera to focus through its bright and sharp electronic viewfinder that comes as close to an optical viewfinder as it can.

With the EM-1, Olympus has also introduced in-body HDR capabilities so you can shoot those landscapes and make them look super cool. Also included is a colour creator tool to modify the tones and colours of an image, so if you are shooting people you can add warmth, or if it is food you can add more saturation to make those colours come alive.

The EM-1 also has built-in Wi-Fi. You can shoot and share pictures with your smartphone as well as remotely control the camera. The Tilt LCD makes it easy to take low-angle shots, and via a smartphone you can manage some interesting shots. The price of Rs 105,000 is for the body only. You can buy it with a bundled 12-50 mm f 3.5-6.3 lens for Rs 119,990, or with a 12-40 mm f/2.8 lens for Rs 159,000.

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