Canon EOS M6 Mark II vs Olympus PEN E-PL2

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Canon EOS M6 Mark II and the Olympus PEN E-PL2, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Canon EOS M6 Mark II was introduced in August 2019 and Olympus PEN E-PL2 was introduced in February 2011. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Canon EOS M6 Mark II over Olympus PEN E-PL2.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus PEN E-PL2 over Canon EOS M6 Mark II.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Canon EOS M6 Mark II and Olympus PEN E-PL2 have 3.0" screens with 1,040k dot and 460k dot resolutions respectively. Canon EOS M6 Mark II has a Tilting screen which makes it very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Olympus PEN E-PL2 has a Fixed screen Canon EOS M6 Mark II also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Cameras does not have built-in viewfinders but optional viewfinder can be attached.

Canon EOS M6 Mark II features a 32.5 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 22.3 x 14.9 mm and a total area of 332.3 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 25,600 and expands to 100 - 51,200 in boosted mode. Olympus PEN E-PL2 features a 12 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 6,400.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

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	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 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

Canon EOS M6 Mark II is equipped with DIGIC 8 processor and can take pictures up to 6960 x 4640 resolution. Olympus PEN E-PL2 is equipped with Truepic V processor and can take pictures up to 4032 x 3024 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3200 x 2400, 2560 x 1920, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480 with 4:3, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Canon EOS M6 Mark II has Canon EF-M lens mount and Olympus PEN E-PL2 has Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to APS-C sensor in Canon EOS M6 Mark II its crop factor is equal to 1.6x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.6. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Olympus PEN E-PL2 its crop factor is equal to 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 on Olympus PEN E-PL2

Olympus PEN E-PL2 has a built-in 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.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Canon EOS M6 Mark II

Canon EOS M6 Mark II has a built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n, 2.4 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth on Canon EOS M6 Mark II

Canon EOS M6 Mark II has a built-in Bluetooth (version 4.2) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Canon EOS M6 Mark II has a Micro HDMI and Olympus PEN E-PL2 has a Mini type C HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Canon EOS M6 Mark II comes with LP-E17 battery pack with battery life of 305 shots and Olympus PEN E-PL2 comes with BLS-5 battery pack with battery life of 280 shots.

External Storage Slots

Canon EOS M6 Mark II has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slot. Olympus PEN E-PL2 has a single SD/SDHC card slot.

Shutter

Canon EOS M6 Mark II has Mechanical Focal Plane shutter and Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/4000 sec with mechanical shutter on Canon EOS M6 Mark II, and up to 1/4000 sec on Olympus PEN E-PL2. Canon EOS M6 Mark II can shoot continuously up to 14.0 fps. Olympus PEN E-PL2 can shoot continuously up to 3.0 fps.

Focusing

Canon EOS M6 Mark II has Dual Pixel CMOS AF system with 143 focusing points and Olympus PEN E-PL2 has 11 focusing points. Canon EOS M6 Mark II has detection range from -5 to +18 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Canon EOS M6 Mark II ranges from -2 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±3 EV range on Canon EOS M6 Mark II and ±3 EV range on Olympus PEN E-PL2. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Canon EOS M6 Mark II and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus PEN E-PL2.

Flash

Cameras have built-in flash with maximum range of 4.60 m at ISO 100 on Canon EOS M6 Mark II and 10.00 m on Olympus PEN E-PL2. They also accept external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe to Canon EOS M6 Mark II and via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal to Olympus PEN E-PL2. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on Canon EOS M6 Mark II and 1/160 sec on Olympus PEN E-PL2.

Canon EOS M6 Mark II body has dimensions of 120 x 70 x 49 mm (4.72 x 2.76 x 1.93") and Olympus PEN E-PL2 body has dimensions of 114 x 72 x 42 mm (4.49 x 2.83 x 1.65"). Canon EOS M6 Mark II weighs 408 g (0.90 lb / 14.39 oz) and Olympus PEN E-PL2 weighs 362 g (0.80 lb / 12.77 oz).

Canon EOS M6 Mark II

Olympus PEN E-PL2

120 mm

70 mm

114 mm

72 mm

70 mm

72 mm

49 mm

42 mm