Tired of lugging a huge DSLR and massive glass around stadiums, arenas, racetracks, and remote locations Wish you could ditch the monopod and shoot handheld all day Hate having to decide whether or not to grab your camera's bulky rain gear Come meet the Olympus OM-D E-M1X .

Class-leading image stabilization; Toughest pro camera on the market today; Fast AF; Hand-held High Res Shot & Live ND work great; Strong image quality in good/great lighting; Excellent battery life and fast in-camera charging; Wonderful ergonomics; No fatigue after long shoots; Best Olympus video...

Image sensor not great with recovering shadows or higher ISOs; We'd like to see Olympus upgrade their displays; Its fastest burst shooting modes don't include full-time AF; Experienced a few AF bugs; Sensor dust was an issue despite the Super Sonic Wave Filter; Missing touch-and-drag AF when using...

In 1965, Car & Driver magazine said this when testing the latest Mercedes Benz 190 sedan: "It's as if a team of fanatical German engineers got together to produce a perfect 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air.

Announced on January 24, the Olympus OM-D E-M1X is a speedy, 20-megapixel pro mirrorless camera that will make you want to trash your tripod. Targeted towards sports and wildlife photographers, the Micro Four Thirds camera boasts the world's most powerful image stabilization, with up to 7.5 stops of...

7.5-stop image stabilization; Fast burst shooting and autofocus; Integrated dual-battery grip; 4K video with OM-Log400; Excellent weather-sealing

Expensive for the format; EVF is lower resolution than the competition; Larger; heavier than full-frame mirrorless

While the buzzword in photography may be full-frame right now, with even Micro Four Thirds stalwart Panasonic launching two professional full-frame mirrorless cameras later this year, Olympus doesn't seem to have got the memo.

AI autofocus system; Up to 7.5 stop image stabilization; Rugged and durable build; Live ND looks like a useful feature; EVF magnification

Constrained by MFT sensor; ISO limited to 25,600; EVF resolution not as high as rivals

In an industry where innovation is often limited to ‘more megapixels', this camera has more brilliant new features than we've seen in a very long while. If size isn't a factor, this is undoubtedly the ultimate Micro Four Thirds camera.

80MP Tripod High Res Shot; 50MP Handheld High Res Shot; Up to 7.5 stops of image stabilisation; Customisable; Tetris-like AF points; Joystick control

"Bulky" for Micro Four Thirds; "Pricey" for Micro Four Thirds

There are just some things that seem to be mutually exclusive. Night and day, power and portability, complexity and reliability. So when someone comes up with a way to bring opposites together, it's almost always regarded as nothing short of genius.

Since publishing a detailed First Look at the new OM-D E-M1X camera last week, we have been able to carry out some of our standard technical and user tests. This report has been prepared to complement the initial review, adding the results of our standard tests.

There's no doubt the Olympus OM-D E-M1X is a tough, confident and capable camera, with a wealth of unique features that make it stand out in the crowd. It has the best built-in image stabilisation of any camera I've tested, allowing you to handhold stills that would normally require a tripod or film...

If you're thinking about buying the E-M1X, it shouldn't be for its modest imaging and performance improvements. The E-M1 Mark II is still on sale for about $1,700, and is nearly the E-M1X's equal in many respects.

Sturdy, all-weather build; Five-axis sensor stabilization; Vari-angle touch LCD; Integrated vertical grip; 60fps Raw capture; Dual batteries and memory card slots; 4K video capture

Expensive; Tracking not available at top burst rate; Relatively small Raw buffer; Incremental improvements; Underwhelming EVF

Olympus wants to shatter the belief that you need to use a full-frame camera in order to be a pro sports photographer. Its answer, the OM-D E-M1X ($2,999, body only), is a mirrorless model with a smaller Micro Four Thirds imager, but built like a pro SLR. Its design incorporates the integrated vertical grip preferred by many pro sport shooters, and dual processors add more advanced subject recognition and tracking to its autofocus system—for some subjects, at least. But at $3,000 it has to compete against others with larger image sensors, as well as the much less expensive Olympus E-M1 Mark II, which offers similar image quality for about half the price. Micro With a Grip There's a feeling among some that mirrorless equals compact. That can be true, but it doesn't have to be. Models with full-frame sensors shave size and weight versus an SLR, but aside from some wide-angle designs, don't use lenses that are significantly smaller. On the other hand, cameras like the Olympus PEN-F, ...

The Olympus OM-D E-M1X camera features a truly rugged, professional build, but its Micro Four Thirds image sensor lags behind the full-frame competition.

Sturdy, all-weather build; Five-axis sensor stabilization; Vari-angle touch LCD; Integrated vertical grip; 60fps Raw capture; Dual batteries and memory card slots; 4K video capture

Expensive; Tracking not available at top burst rate; Relatively small Raw buffer; Incremental improvements; Underwhelming EVF