Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II vs Ricoh WG-5 GPS

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and the Ricoh WG-5 GPS, 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.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II was introduced in September 2016 and Ricoh WG-5 GPS was introduced in February 2015. 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 Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II over Ricoh WG-5 GPS.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Ricoh WG-5 GPS over Olympus OM-D E-M1 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

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and Ricoh WG-5 GPS have 3.0" screens with 1,037k dot and 460k dot resolutions respectively. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II has a Fully Articulated screen which makes it selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Ricoh WG-5 GPS has a Fixed screen Olympus OM-D E-M1 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.

Electronic (OLED) Viewfinder on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II has a built-in Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 1.48x (0.74x 35mm equivalent) magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Ricoh WG-5 GPS.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II features a 20.3 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.4 x 13 mm and a total area of 226.2 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 25,600 and expands to 64 - 25,600 in boosted mode. Ricoh WG-5 GPS features a 16 megapixel 1/2.3-inch BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 6.17 x 4.55 mm and a total area of 20.7 mm². Its native ISO range is 125 - 6,400.

Ricoh WG-5 GPS 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.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II is equipped with TruePic VIII processor and can take pictures up to 5184 x 3888 resolution. Ricoh WG-5 GPS can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4608 x 2592, 3456 x 3456, 3072 x 2304, 3072 x 1728, 2592 x 1464, 2048 x 1536, 1920 x 1080, 640 x 480 with 1:1, 4:3, 16:9 aspect ratios.

No Low-Pass Filter on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. 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.

Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in image stabilization (5.5 stops of compensation in Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II). On Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II it means that you are still getting vibration reduction when it 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 GPS on Ricoh WG-5 GPS

Ricoh WG-5 GPS has a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) technology which allows you to automatically tag the location where you took your photos. You can later categorize, organize, and search for photos based on location. This is very useful for travel and outdoor photographers for documenting the locations where images were captured.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in GPS.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

Olympus OM-D E-M1 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.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II has a Micro HDMI and Ricoh WG-5 GPS has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II comes with BLH-1 battery pack with battery life of 350 shots and Ricoh WG-5 GPS comes with D-LI92 battery pack with battery life of 240 shots.

External Storage Slots

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II has two card slots - one for Single Slot: SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) and one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I). Ricoh WG-5 GPS has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II has Mechanical Focal Plane shutter and Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/32000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, and up to 1/4000 sec on Ricoh WG-5 GPS. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II can shoot continuously up to 60.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 15.0 fps with mechanical shutter. Ricoh WG-5 GPS can shoot continuously up to 14.0 fps.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II ranges from -2 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. You can also do exposure lock and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and exposure bracketing on Ricoh WG-5 GPS.

Flash

Ricoh WG-5 GPS has a built-in flash with maximum range of 10.40 m at Auto ISO. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II 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 Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II body has dimensions of 134 x 91 x 67 mm (5.28 x 3.58 x 2.64") and Ricoh WG-5 GPS body has dimensions of 125 x 65 x 32 mm (4.92 x 2.56 x 1.26"). Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II weighs 574 g (1.27 lb / 20.25 oz) and Ricoh WG-5 GPS weighs 236 g (0.52 lb / 8.32 oz).

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

Ricoh WG-5 GPS

134 mm

91 mm

125 mm

65 mm