Olympus OM-D E-M5

Olympus OM-D E-M5 was announced in 2012 and is a Micro Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) Mirrorless camera with 16.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor. Its native ISO ranges from 200 to 25,600 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode. The camera has a Tilting 3.0" screen with 610k dot resolution and built-in Electronic viewfinder with 1,440k dot resolution. It has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in body image stabilization.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 can capture video up to 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Here is the Olympus OM-D series lineup, where you can view and compare the main specifications of the cameras within the same series.

Olympus OM-D series lineup

	Model	Date	Sensor	Native ISO	Screen	Price
	Olympus OM-D E-M10 IV Compare	August 2020	20.3 MP Micro Four Thirds	200 - 25,600	Tilting 3.0" 1,040k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H
	Olympus OM-D E-M1 III Compare	February 2020	20.4 MP Micro Four Thirds	200 - 25,600	Articulated 3.0" 1,037k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H
	Olympus OM-D E-M5 III Compare	October 2019	20.4 MP Micro Four Thirds	200 - 25,600	Articulated 3.0" 1,040k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H
	Olympus OM-D E-M1X Compare	January 2019	20.4 MP Micro Four Thirds	200 - 25,600	Articulated 3.0" 1,037k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H
	Olympus OM-D E-M10 III Compare	August 2017	16.1 MP Micro Four Thirds	200 - 25,600	Tilting 3.0" 1,040k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H
	Olympus OM-D E-M1 II Compare	September 2016	20.3 MP Micro Four Thirds	200 - 25,600	Articulated 3.0" 1,037k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H
	Olympus OM-D E-M10 II Compare	August 2015	16.1 MP Micro Four Thirds	200 - 25,600	Tilting 3.0" 1,040k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H
	Olympus OM-D E-M5 II Compare	February 2015	16.1 MP Micro Four Thirds	200 - 25,600	Articulated 3.0" 1,037k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H
	Olympus OM-D E-M10 Compare	March 2014	16.1 MP Micro Four Thirds	200 - 25,600	Tilting 3.0" 1,037k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H
	Olympus OM-D E-M1 Compare	October 2013	16.3 MP Micro Four Thirds	100 - 25,600	Tilting 3.0" 1,037k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H
	Olympus OM-D E-M5	April 2012	16.1 MP Micro Four Thirds	200 - 25,600	Tilting 3.0" 610k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H

You can view their side-by-side comparison here: Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV vs OM-D E-M1 Mark III vs OM-D E-M5 Mark III vs OM-D E-M1X vs OM-D E-M10 Mark III vs OM-D E-M1 Mark II.

In this section we present pros and cons of Olympus OM-D E-M5.

In 2015 Olympus OM-D E-M5 was replaced by Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II. Let us now have a look at some important differences between Olympus OM-D E-M5 and its successor.

For more detailed comparison between the models please visit Olympus OM-D E-M5 vs OM-D E-M5 Mark II.

Tilting Touchscreen

Olympus OM-D E-M5 has a 3.0" Tilting touchscreen with 610k dot resolution which is quite low by today's standards. Tilting screen makes this camera very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting.

Electronic Viewfinder

Camera has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 1,440k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 1.15x (0.58x 35mm equivalent) magnification.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 features a 16.1 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 224.9 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 25,600 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how Olympus OM-D E-M5's Micro Four Thirds sensor compares with other types of sensors:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.3 x 13 mm	224.9 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Camera is equipped with TruePic VI processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolutions like 4608 x 3072, 4608 x 2592, 3456 x 3456, 2592 x 3456, 3200 x 2400, 3200 x 1800, 3216 x 2144, 2400 x 2400, 1824 x 2432, 2560 x1920, 2560 x 1440, 2544 x 1696, 1920 x 1920, 1440 x 1920, 1920 x 1440, 1920 x 1080, 1920 x 1280, 1440 x 1440, 1104 x 1472, 1600 x 1200, 1536 x 864, 1584 x 1056, 1216 x 1216, 864 x 1152, 1280 x 960, 1280 x 720, 1296 x 864, 960 x 960, 720 x 960, 1024 x 768, 1024 x 576, 1008 x 672, 768 x 768, 576 x 768, 640 x 480, 640 x 360, 624 x 416, 480 x 480, 384 x 512 with 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Olympus OM-D E-M5 has Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor its crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is 2x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 2.

In-Body Image Stabilization

The camera has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

USB Input and HDMI Output

Olympus OM-D E-M5 has a USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) input for data transfer. There is a Mini type D HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus OM-D E-M5 comes with BLN-1 battery pack with battery life of 360 shots.

External Storage Slots

The camera has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Olympus OM-D E-M5's shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec. Camera can shoot continuously up to 9.0 fps.

Flash

Olympus OM-D E-M5 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 has dimensions of 122 x 89 x 43 mm (4.8 x 3.5 x 1.69"). It weighs 425 g (0.94 lb / 14.99 oz), so it is a lightweight camera.

122 mm (4.8")

89 mm (3.5")

89 mm (3.5")

43 mm (1.69")