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Olympus says the OM-D E-M5 II's High Res mode gives resolution equivalent to a 40-megapixel camera. We couldn't let this pass without putting it to the test and the results are fascinating. There are no 40-megapixel cameras on the market right now (unless you include vastly more expensive medium format cameras), so we chose the nearest equivalent – the Nikon D810. This has a sensor with no anti-aliasing filter, and produces the highest resolution we've seen in mass-market digital SLR. The Canon EOS 5DS will offer 50 megapixels, of course, but that is not yet available.
The D810 has a native resolution almost the same as the Olympus's High Res mode, and a full-frame sensor area four times larger. Can the OM-D E-M5 even approach the D810's resolution figures?
Olympus OM-D E-M5 II vs Nikon D810: JPEG
Analysis: Amazingly, the OM-D E-M5 II really can match the resolution of the Nikon D810, the sharpest full-frame D-SLR available at the time of writing.
At ISO 100-200, the resolution is identical. It falls away very slightly from ISO 200-800, but not much, and that's the current limit ISO limit of Olympus's High Res mode.
Olympus OM-D E-M5 II vs Nikon D810: raw
Analysis: It's the same story with the raw files. Again, the Olympus High Res mode has a fixed ISO limit, so it's not possible to continue the comparison across the full ISO range, but from ISO 100-800, the Olympus gets very close indeed to the D810's resolution figures.
Of course, we need to remember the limitations of the Olympus High Res mode – it can only be used with perfectly static subjects and with the camera on a tripod. But Olympus's sensor-shift technology is still in its infancy, and if the exposure and processing speeds can be improved to allow conventional handheld photography, this could be a whole new direction for sensor development.
Olympus says the OM-D E-M5 II can produce the resolution of a 40-megapixel camera, and our lab tests bear out these claims.
