OM System has created some exceptional cameras over the decades. While they are largely known for wildlife and street photography, their devices are just as great for street photography. If you are someone looking for a new Micro Four Thirds camera for street photography, then we bring to you 3 great options. Some may be older, but they are quite exceptional for the genre. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
OM System OM3
The OM3 is said to be the closest camera to the Pen F, launched in 2025. The camera features a 20.4MP 4/3 Stacked BSI Live MOS, a TruePic™ X dual quad core processor, and 5-axis image stabilization. It has IP53 weather sealing, a 2.36M dots EVF, and 1,053 cross-type phase detection AF points. The OM3 produces great color from the JPEGs, the Vertical image format was good, and the film profiles are lovely. Speaking about the camera, we said, “The JPEGs? Oh, my heavens! They’re positively beautiful when you’re embracing the color film and black and white format standards that the camera gives you. The colors are vivid, bright, punchy, saturated, and juicy. At the same time, the black and white looks are something that you’d dream of.”
Olympus Pen F
The Olympus Pen F comes with a 20MP Live MOS sensor, with 5-axis image stabilization, and a 2.35M OLED EVF. The camera also includes 81 AF points, multiple custom function buttons, and an 80MP high-res shot option in RAW. You can shoot at 10fps in burst mode, and the shutter flash sync is at 1/320th. The camera offers the best image qualities, the design of the camera is exceptional, and the autofocus performance is more than satisfactory. OM System has added a knob which can let you shoot in monochrome, the quality of which is equally exciting. The JPEG quality is fantastic, while the EVF and electronic shutter are great too. “Amongst the good things: stellar autofocus in most situations, great high ISO output, pretty versatile RAW files, incredibly almost perfect ergonomics, a great EVF and LCD screen, and the list can go on. In many ways, it’s the almost perfect camera for many photographers,” we said in our review.
OM System OM5 Mk II
Generally speaking, entry-level cameras aren’t things that our site really bats an eye at. It’s not because we scoff at the crowd using them, it’s because the brands take their higher end cameras, strip out a bunch of features, and don’t really try to make it really unique otherwise. The OM System OM5 II does something different, though. There’s a new color option on the outside. Beyond that, it remains to be the only entry-level camera for street photographers with IP-durabiltiy rated weather resistance. It sacrifices a few features from the higher end cameras like Simulated OVF and AI scene detection. But to recall a conversation had with Phoblographer’s own Alberto Lima, most photographers these days aren’t photographing wildife necessarily. So instead, this camera is great for street photography due to things like the square format that it can shoot and OM System’s excellent black and white art filters. Photographer Matt Black tends to shoot like this, and it’s pretty incredible when he does.
The OM System OM1 is a perfect partner for bird and wildlife photography, but so is for street photographers who want more power. The camera features a 20MP Live MOS Sensor, TruePic X processor, IP63 weather sealing, and burst shooting up to 50fps in C-AF and up to 120fps in S-AF. There are also computational photography modes,1053 cross-type AF points, and AF sensitivity of -8 EVF at f1.2. Some of the things we liked include the menu system, autofocus versatility with scene selection, weather sealing, and lightweight design with OM lenses. As we said in our review, “Through and through, the OM System OM1 is a fantastic camera. It will perfectly suit the needs of most professional photographers who don’t need super high megapixels. Better yet, it’s also great for passionate photographers who just want to have fun.”
