Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II vs Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, 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-M5 Mark II was introduced in February 2015 and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III was introduced in February 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 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II over Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III over Olympus OM-D E-M5 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-M5 Mark II and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III have 3.0" Fully Articulated screens with 1,037k dot resolution. Fully articulated screen makes cameras selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very 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

Cameras have built-in Electronic viewfinders with 2,360k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage and 1.48x (0.74x 35mm equivalent) magnification.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II features a 16.1 megapixel Micro Four Thirds MOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 224.9 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 25,600 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode. 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 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 25,600 and expands to 64 - 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-M5 Mark II is equipped with TruePic VII processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III is equipped with TruePic IX processor and can take pictures up to 5184 x 3888 resolution.

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.

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.

In-Body Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) (7 stops of compensation in Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III). 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 (802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II, Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac/b/g/n 2.4/5 GHz on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III) 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 and battery charging. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II has a Micro HDMI and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II comes with BLN-1 battery pack with battery life of 310 shots and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III comes with BLH-1 battery pack with battery life of 420 shots.

External Storage Slots

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

Shutter

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II has Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has 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 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II, and 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. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps. 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.

Focusing

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II has 81 focusing points and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has 121 (121 cross-type) focusing points. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III has detection range from -3.5 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Both cameras' exposure metering ranges from -2 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe to Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal to Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on both cameras.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II body has dimensions of 124 x 85 x 45 mm (4.88 x 3.35 x 1.77") and 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"). Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II weighs 469 g (1.03 lb / 16.54 oz) and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III weighs 580 g (1.28 lb / 20.46 oz).

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

124 mm

85 mm

134 mm

91 mm

85 mm

91 mm

45 mm

69 mm