Leica SL2-S vs Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Leica SL2-S and the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV, 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.

Leica SL2-S was introduced in December 2020 and Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV was introduced in August 2020. 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 Leica SL2-S over Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV over Leica SL2-S.

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

Leica SL2-S has a 3.2" Fixed screen with 2,100k dot resolution and Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has a 3.0" Tilting screen with 1,040k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Both models feature 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.

Viewfinder

Leica SL2-S has a built-in Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 5,760k dot resolution and Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has a built-in Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

Leica SL2-S features a 24.6 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 36 x 24 mm and a total area of 864 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 50,000 and expands to 50 - 50,000 in boosted mode. Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV features a 20.3 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.4 x 13 mm and a total area of 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 25,600 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode.

Leica SL2-S has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

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

Leica SL2-S is equipped with Maestro III processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution. Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV is equipped with TruePic VIII processor and can take pictures up to 5184 x 3888 resolution.

Lens Mount

Leica SL2-S has Leica L lens mount and Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor in Leica SL2-S its crop factor is equal to 1x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV 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.

No Low-Pass Filter on Leica SL2-S

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Leica SL2-S. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

In-Body Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) (5.5 stops of compensation in Leica SL2-S and 4.5 stops of compensation in Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when cameras are 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

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac/b/g/n 2.4/5 GHz on Leica SL2-S, 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV) 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

Leica SL2-S and Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV have built-in Bluetooth (version 4.2 LE on Leica SL2-S) 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 inputs for data transfer and battery charging. Leica SL2-S has a Full Size HDMI and Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Leica SL2-S comes with BP-SCL4 battery pack with battery life of 510 shots and Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV comes with BLS-50 battery pack with battery life of 360 shots.

External Storage Slots

Leica SL2-S has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slots. Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slot.

Shutter

Leica SL2-S and Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV have Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane. shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Leica SL2-S, and up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/4000 sec with mechanical shutter on Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV. Leica SL2-S can shoot continuously up to 25.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 9.0 fps with mechanical shutter. Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV can shoot continuously up to 15.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 8.7 fps with mechanical shutter.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV ranges from -2 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±3 EV range on Leica SL2-S and ±5 EV range on Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Leica SL2-S and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV.

Flash

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has a built-in flash with maximum range of 7.20 m at ISO 200 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. Leica SL2-S has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on both cameras.

Leica SL2-S body has dimensions of 146 x 107 x 83 mm (5.75 x 4.21 x 3.27") and Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV body has dimensions of 122 x 84 x 49 mm (4.8 x 3.31 x 1.93"). Leica SL2-S weighs 931 g (2.05 lb / 32.84 oz) and Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV weighs 383 g (0.84 lb / 13.51 oz).

Leica SL2-S

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV

146 mm

107 mm

122 mm

84 mm

107 mm

84 mm

83 mm

49 mm