The OM System OM-3 Shows That There’s Life Left in the Brand

The OM-3 from OM System is here, and finally, it shows photographers that, yes, someone is alive and designing new camera bodies at the company.

I jest, but that's the way it has felt looking at each Olympus release. While I loved shooting Olympus, for a long time, it looked like the brand's camera bodies had been standing mostly still—even through the transition of the camera lineup to OM System, where it seemed like the cameras got a fresh coat of paint and some processing/sensor upgrades, but not much more than that.

Enter the OM-3, and if Micro Four Nerds' Emily Lowrey's video first look at the camera is any indication, there are finally a lot of new things happening here. Yes, she talks about how it has inherited a sensor from the flagship OM-1 Mark II, which is not new. She also talks about how the autofocus is inherited from that camera—also not new. But look at that body, which is something wholly different from a warmed-over E-M5 or E-M10 series, which is what I had come to expect from new OM releases.

As Lowrey mentions, there's a little bit of Pen-F in there—a beloved retro digital camera that still holds its value among enthusiasts today. While it doesn't have the same rangefinder-style design, the subtle nod to that camera’s aesthetic shows that the company recognizes the segment of the market looking for a replacement for that model.

In her video, Lowrey does a deep dive into the photo and video features of the camera, and between the autofocus, still image quality, and video quality, it certainly looks like a step up from the original Pen-F, as well as a strong competitor to late-model Micro Four Thirds cameras. It's a small camera with the guts of the professional models, according to Lowrey. Small size has always been Micro Four Thirds' biggest strength, and it's good to see a return to form.

I sold off most of my Micro Four Thirds gear after it felt like the system stagnated for many years. While there's still some of that here (I'm still trying to make sense of a 20 MP sensor in 2025 after so many years at that resolution), it seems like there's a lot to love about the camera all the same. Check out Lowrey's deep dive in the video above, or read Fstoppers' own Ivor Rackham's first impressions here.

I'm just going to stare at the body and decide if it's time to dust off my Micro Four Thirds lenses I haven't used in a while.