A while back I had my hands on the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II for a full test. While using the camera I was keen to test out one of its headline features, its unmatched image stabilisation.

Up to 6.5EV image stabilisation seems to good to be true. Rather audaciously an Olympus spokesperson even claims that image stabilisation is limited to 6.5EV by the rotation of the earth. Say what?

What does this mean in plain English?

Well, there's the old camera settings guide for sharp handheld shots. It's shutter speed = focal length. That means when shooting at 30mm, a shutter speed of 1/30sec should give you sharp results. Should.

If you factor in 6.5EV to this equation, you should be able to get a sharp handheld image up to 3 seconds with the E-M1 Mark II. Ridiculous.

That 6.5EV is for select Olympus lenses only, though 5.5EV is possible for other lenses, which is still amazing. On the same calculations as above for 5.5EV, I can get a sharp image at 1-2 seconds.

Does the camera deliver? Yes, yes it does. Oh and by the way it transforms shaky handheld video footage into silky smooth loveliness.

I've heard the term witchcraft being thrown around about this image stabilisation by level-headed camera nerds (yes tongue in cheek, but paints a picture of how this technology has been received by those in the know).

This is camera technology at its very best.

You can read the full piece on the hireacamera.com website.

I've been back in the camera reviewing game a bit recently. And what a reintroduction - especially with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. It really is quite a camera.

I rate this camera as the best micro-four thirds (M4T) camera for photography. (That's a small, interchangeable lens camera with no internal mirror.)

Packed with features, lightning quick and the lens collection keeps growing, this is for sure a viable alternative to a DSLR camera.

The inherent limitation of this format is the relatively small sensor size, which limits image quality in low and high contrast light. However, Olympus is for sure creating innovation after innovation to counter this limitation.

The best image stabilisation (IS) bar none means that for still subjects, the camera can be used at slower shutter speeds which increases light intake and therefore improves image quality.

I did a test of the IS and found that with a 20mm wide angle lens I could take a sharp image handheld with a shutter speed of 2 seconds, which is astonishing.

This sensor and lens based IS works really well for video too - I could get smooth footage when moving with the camera handheld in a way I could only do so with a gimbal of some kind.

And there are more features on offer that totally outshine the DSLR system, thanks no doubt to the small(er) sensor size.

One example is the 60fps raw & JPEG Pro Capture High shooting mode. 60fps!! Or, you can shoot at 18fps with full-time AF. Wow.

At £1849.99 RRP body only, the OM-D E-M1 Mark II is not cheap. It's roughly the same price as the top-of-the-line APS-C DSLRs such as Nikon’s D500 and some full-frame DSLRs.

In simple terms you could claim M4T versus DSLR has been a size & features versus image quality decision, but the argument is not that simple any more.

You can read more about the camera in my full review on the Pocket Lint website plus I have included some images taken with the camera below.

If photography is your thing yet you are committed to the DSLR system, I'd recommend trying this system out, you might be surprised at how capable it is.