Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1, 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 III was introduced in February 2020 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 was introduced in July 2009. 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 III over Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 over Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III.

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 III has a 3.0" Fully Articulated screen with 1,037k dot resolution and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 has a 2.70" Fixed screen with 230k dot resolution. Fully articulated screen makes Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III 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 Viewfinder on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has a built-in Electronic 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 Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III features a 20.4 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. Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 features a 12.1 megapixel 1/2.33-inch CCD sensor with dimensions of 6.08 x 4.56 mm and a total area of 20.8 mm². Its native ISO range is 80 - 6,400.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III is equipped with TruePic IX processor and can take pictures up to 5184 x 3888 resolution. Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 is equipped with Venus Engine V processor and can take pictures up to 4000 x 3000 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4000 x 2672, 4000 x 2248, 3264 x 2448, 3264 x 2176, 3264 x 1840, 2560 x 1920, 2560 x 1712, 2560 x 1440, 2048 x 1536, 2048 x 1360, 1920 x 1080, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480 with 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios.

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

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 III. 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 (7 stops of compensation in Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III). On Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III 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 Wi-Fi on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has a built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 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 Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has a built-in Bluetooth 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. connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III comes with BLH-1 battery pack with battery life of 420 shots and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 comes with DMW-BCG10 battery pack.

External Storage Slots

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has two card slots - one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) and one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I). Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 has a single SD/SDHC card slot.

Shutter

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane 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 III, and up to 1/2000 sec on Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III can shoot continuously up to 60.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 15.0 fps with mechanical shutter. Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 can shoot continuously up to 2.3 fps.

Focusing

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has 121 (121 cross-type) focusing points and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 has 11 focusing points. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has detection range from -3.5 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III 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 III and ±2 range on Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III and exposure bracketing on Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1.

Flash

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 5.10 m. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III body has dimensions of 134 x 91 x 69 mm (5.28 x 3.58 x 2.72") and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 body has dimensions of 98 x 55 x 26 mm (3.86 x 2.17 x 1.02"). Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III weighs 580 g (1.28 lb / 20.46 oz) and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 weighs 158 g (0.35 lb / 5.57 oz).

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1

134 mm

91 mm

98 mm

55 mm

91 mm

55 mm

69 mm

26 mm