Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV vs Olympus OM-D E-M5

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV and the Olympus OM-D E-M5, 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-M10 Mark IV was introduced in August 2020 and Olympus OM-D E-M5 was introduced in April 2012. 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-M10 Mark IV over Olympus OM-D E-M5.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus OM-D E-M5 over Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV.

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-M10 Mark IV and Olympus OM-D E-M5 have 3.0" Tilting screens with 1,040k dot and 610k dot resolutions respectively. Tilting screen makes cameras 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

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has a built-in Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution and Olympus OM-D E-M5 has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 1,440k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

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 226.2 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 25,600 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode. 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 169 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 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

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV is equipped with TruePic VIII processor and can take pictures up to 5184 x 3888 resolution. Olympus OM-D E-M5 is equipped with TruePic VI processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution 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

Cameras have Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to their Micro Four Thirds sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) 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

The cameras have a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) (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 on Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV 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 Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV 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 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has a Micro HDMI and Olympus OM-D E-M5 has a Mini type D HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV comes with BLS-50 battery pack with battery life of 360 shots and Olympus OM-D E-M5 comes with BLN-1 battery pack with battery life of 360 shots.

External Storage Slots

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slot. Olympus OM-D E-M5 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go 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, and up to 1/4000 sec on Olympus OM-D E-M5. 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. Olympus OM-D E-M5 can shoot continuously up to 9.0 fps.

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 ±5 EV range on Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV and ±3 EV range on Olympus OM-D E-M5. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus OM-D E-M5.

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. 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 on both cameras.

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") and Olympus OM-D E-M5 body has dimensions of 122 x 89 x 43 mm (4.8 x 3.5 x 1.69"). Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV weighs 383 g (0.84 lb / 13.51 oz) and Olympus OM-D E-M5 weighs 425 g (0.94 lb / 14.99 oz).

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV

Olympus OM-D E-M5

122 mm

84 mm

122 mm

89 mm

84 mm

89 mm

49 mm

43 mm