Buying the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III: Bundle or body only?

I’m going to become an artist. We all have dreams and that one is mine. To help me fulfill my dream, I bought a camera. Specifically, I bought the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III. OMD Mark III for short.

I’ll talk about what made me decide to get this camera in my next post. For now, I just wanted to show what’s in the box and talk about why you might want the carrying case bundle.

Unfortunately, there are only two ways to buy this camera: Either just the camera body or as a package deal with a 14-42mm lens, a 16GB memory card, and a carrying case. I needed the lens, so I got the carrying case bundle.

Buying the camera body only will cost $549.99. Buying the carrying case bundle costs $699.99.

Should you get the carrying case bundle?

If you need a lens, yes, buy the bundle. Buying an equivalent lens would cost about $300, so buying in the bundle saves you about $150, plus you get the memory card and the case.

I think this is poor marketing on the part of Olympus. A lot of people might not want that case. It looks like crap. I actually got another case from B&H (More on that, later.). It’s departure from the way they sell their other cameras–other cameras are available in a more standard camera body and lens bundle.

I think Olympus thought this was a better deal, which it is, but the way it’s presented and sold might turn away buyers. The big problem is the carrying case. When I saw the case, I looked for other buying options, but there weren’t any.

So get the carry case bundle if you need a lens. Save the environment one wasteful carrying case if you don’t.

You can see what’s in the case in the photo below.