Imaging Resource: Olympus E-M1 Mk II COTY

Camera of the Year seems a big choice.  How do you choose?  There are so many things to consider.

Imaging Resource has decided on their choice: the Olympus E-M1 Mk II.

It's quite shocking, especially since I use micro Four-Thirds equipment every day I shoot.

I had a year with the Nikon D7200 and I ended up getting rid of it because the differences were negligible.  With the right lens, I could shoot at ISO 4000 and get images that were similar in image quality to ISO 3200 on micro Four-Thirds.  I say "with the right lens" because the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 barely worked when it was dark.  The D500 is better than the D7200 in many ways, as well as the D300 and D300s, but it is more of the same in many ways.

In my opinion, humble or not, the FujiFilm X-T2 is the camera body that FujiFilm should have introduced as the X-T1.  The only reason the X-T1 seemed to catch on is because a lot of people in the 20s had never seen a camera with so many external controls.  They didn't really care what it could do, they were having a cameragasm.

That said, any of the choices were good, and it's a shame that the Pentax K-1 wasn't in the list.  I had the K-50 for a while and it was a very agreeable piece of equipment.  No one could say that it was way up there, but it competed at a level much higher than its price would suggest.  The K-1 does this also.  Its poor continuous AF is the only reason it hasn't been awarded.  Given that it has a 135 Format-sized sensor, I'd say C-AF is of little interest to those who have been chanting "full frame full frame" for years.  Their flowers and kittens will look fine with the K-1.

With all that, I'm still surprised that the E-M1 Mk II is Camera of the Year at Imaging Resource, but I value their opinions.  They really try the equipment and don't make petty remarks to suggest that they're brand fanatics.  If this had been DPReview or even the current What Digital Camera without Nigel Atherton, I would be skeptical.

I'd love to replace my E-M1 with the newer model.  It seems every bit the E-5 replacement that I wanted, without all the drawbacks I have found in the E-M1.  The one drawback is the price, and that has to come with a sensor with the 121 cross-type focus points, CDAF and PDAF.

Update 2016.12.13: Well, the Pentax K-1 did make it into the Best Professional and High End Cameras article, behind the Canon 5D Mk IV.

The Olympus E-M1 Mk II got Best Professional Mirrorless, solidifying the anger against it, especially from FujiFilm fanatics.  Sony was nowhere to be found.