The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, the successor to Olympus’ pro-level micro four thirds camera body, will go on sale from the end of December 2016, the company revealed today. The E-M1 Mark II will be priced at $1999.99 in the U.S., and $2,499.99 in Canada. Olympus also announced a couple of new accessories today, including the STF-8 Macro Flash, and a new first-party Olympus camera backpack for all your gear.
The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II is a worthy successor the original, which is itself still a very capable and flexible compact system camera option. I got the chance to try out a pre-production version of the E-M1 Mark II early in October, and the camera impressed in the short time I was able to spend with it. The redesigned body is more comfortable to grip and use, and the features like the camera’s blazing fast burst rate, lens and body optical stabilization combo, and 4K video recording all bode well for how this camera will perform in the real world.
Olympus’ new Macro flash is weatherproofed, with projection against dust, splashes and freezing, to match the OM-D E-M1 Mark II’s environmental protections, and it’s set to arrive in January 2017. The backpack will go on sale at the end of December, likely in time for the EM-1 Mark II’s launch.
We’ll have a full review of the OM-D E-M1 Mark II when it becomes available, but the camera body’s impressive list of capabilities, combined with new lens offerings from Olympus like the extremely versatile F/4 12-100mm (24-200mm equivalent on 35mm) make it a strong contender for a solution that provides great performance in a very wide range of shooting situations.