...first impressions, OMD-EM5

...this camera took forever to be in my hands...I wanted the Black Body/no lens combo and it was forever to become available...forever...

I think we all know by now that this puppy is a rock-crusher for IQ... it has a very fresh Sony 16mp m4/3 sensor that equals most, all or some of the latest APS-C sensors from a variety of manufacturers...'nuff said

but first impressions are forever, and of course I have a few that I would like to share...starting with the Name... OMD-EM5...I mean what do you actually call it ????...also, it HUMS, yes, it has the slightest humming sound from the Internal Stabilizer System upon power-up, you can hear it in a quiet room, barely...it is small, I had the Panasonic G3 and it is approximately the same size, but because of its SLR type styling it looks waaaay small, as the G3 did not appear to be that small, the G3 looked pretty normally sized...it is not light, it feels solid, robust and not of a plastic nature...the styling is retro, it really looks like a 70's shrunk SLR, you may or may not like it...the Internal Image 5-Axis Stabilizer is off the charts, just try it and I think you will actually see a difference in very low light...the machine is "fast" in operation, fast in handling and of course has the "speed of light" autofocus system which means nearly instantaneous auto focus...the shutter sound "rocks"...the G3 had a "thunk" the OMD has a "thwack"... a significant difference in the way the camera feels to a shooter...last, the OMD LCD back panel is always face-open, the back screen is articulated, hydromatic and everything else, but the back glass is always face open

...but alas, I must report the other impression...the Menu/Info system...remember the old phrase from the 70's "user knarly"... well this is it !...the menu and information system is very comprehensive, its' just knarly to use...so many different ways to display the information all slightly different...and a few other surprises like when I selected my image quality you have choices for jpegs of large fine/large normal/medium fine/medium normal/small fine/small normal plus an assortment of RAW in combo with and without the jpegs...no problem so far, but perusing page 90 of the 133 page manual I discovered that by changing the BASE menu structure that a large/SUPER fine was available...that's great ! but without spotting that novelty on page 90 I would have never known that Super Fine was an option from the menu system...and the other oddity, the OMD has a touch screen/lcd panel that is a joy to use, but not always touch available depending upon the menu/information that you are currently trying to activate...as an example, the OMD has a "Super Control Panel" default screen which displays and controls all active shoot settings, with cursor control only, no touch control...and in live view mode  has TOUCH control for autofocus subject selection and shutter actuation...more great stuff but perplexing...I must admit I HAD to read the manual

first impression, a unique camera among a sea of cameras, a bit eclectic, but man, this is the real DEAL !!!