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Olympus E-M10 Performance


Timing and Performance

Very good performance overall for its class.

Startup/Play to Record/Buffer Clearing

Power on
to first shot
~1.3 seconds

Time it takes to turn on and capture a shot.

Play to Record,
first shot
~0.6 second

Time until first shot is captured.

Buffer clearing time
6 seconds after 19 large/super fine JPEGs*

Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card.
6 seconds after 15 RAW files*
9 seconds after 10 RAW + LSF JPEG files*
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Startup time including taking a shot was fair for a CSC, but switching from Play to Record and taking a shot was quite fast. With a fast 95MB/s UHS-I SDHC card, the E-M10's buffer clearing times were quite good.


Shutter Response (Lag Time)

Full Autofocus,
Single-area AF mode
0.234 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting. (All AF timing performed with the new 14-42mm II R kit lens at about 30mm unless otherwise noted.)

Full Autofocus,
Single-area AF mode
0.207 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting. (With Olympus 14-42mm EZ lens.)

Full Autofocus,
Multi-area AF mode
0.245 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting.

Full Autofocus,
Single-area AF mode
Auto Flash Enabled
0.397 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting, TTL Auto flash enabled.

Manual Focus
0.096 second

For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".

Prefocused
0.066 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Olympus E-M10's full-autofocus shutter lag in single-area AF mode (center AF position) was 0.234 second when tested with the 14-42mm II R kit lens. That's slightly faster than average for a CSC, and competitive with consumer DSLRs. We also tested autofocus lag with the new 14-42mm EZ lens, and found it was about 27ms faster (0.207s) than the kit lens.

In 81-point "All Targets" AF mode, shutter lag was a touch slower than center AF mode, at 0.245 second. Full autofocus shutter lag increased to 0.397 second with the flash enabled, to account for the additional delay for the preflash metering, however that's still quite fast.

When manually focused, the E-M10's shutter lag time was 0.096 second, also fast. The E-M10's prefocused shutter lag time of 0.066 second was quite quick.

These times are comparable to the E-M5, but not as fast as the flagship E-M1 model as one would expect.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.


Cycle Time (shot to shot)

Single Shot mode
Large/Super Fine JPEG
0.56 second

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots, 2 seconds to clear*.

Single Shot mode
RAW
0.58 second

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots, 2 seconds to clear*.

Single Shot mode
RAW + LSF JPEG
0.63 second

Time per shot, averaged over 16 shots, 7 seconds to clear*.

Early shutter
penalty?
No

Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.

Continuous H Mode
Large/Super Fine JPEG
0.12 second (8.07 frames per second);
19 frames total;
6 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over 19 shot buffer capacity, then slows to an average of 1.09s or 0.92fps when buffer is full.

Continuous H Mode
RAW
0.12 second (8.05 frames per second);
15 frames total;
6 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over 15 shot buffer capacity, then slows to an average of 1.31s or 0.76fps when buffer is full.

Continuous H Mode
RAW + LSF JPEG

0.12 second (8.11 frames per second);
10 frames total;
9 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over 10 shot buffer capacity, then slows to an average of 2.37s or 0.42fps when buffer is full.

Flash Recycling
3.5 seconds

Flash at maximum output.

*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Single-shot cycle times were quite good for a CSC, ranging from 0.56 to 0.63 second per frame, depending on the file type.

Continuous H mode performance was good, at around 8.1 frames per second with any file type. Note that focus and exposure are fixed at the first frame of a burst in this mode. There is also a "low speed" mode rated at up to 3.5 fps which supports continuous AF and exposure, however we didn't test that mode.

Buffer depths are decent though not exceptional, at 19 frames for Large/Super Fine JPEGs, 15 frames for RAW files, and 10 frames for RAW+JPEGs. Note that our test target for this was designed to be difficult to compress, so JPEG burst lengths should be longer with typical subjects. (An you'll be able to take longer JPEG bursts by switching to Fine quality; we managed 36 frames in that mode.) Buffer clearing was also good, ranging from 6 seconds after a burst of 19 LSF JPEGs to 9 seconds after a burst of 10 RAW+JPEG frames with a fast UHS-I card.

Built-in flash recycle time was fair at an average of 3.5 seconds after full power discharge.

Performance here isn't quite as fast as the E-M5, but very good for the price.


Download Speed

Windows Computer, USB 2.0
9,086 KBytes/sec

Typical Values:
Less than 600=USB 1.1;
600-769=USB 2.0 Low;
Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Download speeds were good, quick enough that you probably won't feel the need for a separate card reader. (Note that this test was performed with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card: Slower cards would likely show slower transfer times.)


Bottom line, the Olympus E-M10's performance is generally very good for its class, with good autofocus speeds, cycle times and burst performance.

Battery

Battery Life
Slightly below average battery life for a CSC.

Operating Mode Number of Shots
Still Capture,
(CIPA standard)
320

The Olympus E-M10 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with both a single battery and charger. The rated 320 shots per charge (Olympus makes no distinction between using the EVF or LCD monitor) is a bit below average for a compact system camera, but well below the capacity of most DSLRs with their optical viewfinders. We recommend getting a second battery for your E-M10 if you plan any extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

 

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