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

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus OM-D E-M5 and the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, 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 was introduced in April 2012 and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II was introduced in September 2016. 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 over Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II over Olympus OM-D E-M5.

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 and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II have 3.0" screens with 610k dot and 1,037k dot resolutions respectively. Olympus OM-D E-M5 has a Tilting screen which makes it very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. 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. 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-M5 has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 1,440k dot resolution and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II has a built-in Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

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 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 II 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 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 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. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II is equipped with TruePic VIII 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 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.

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 Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II). 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-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-M5 has a Mini type D HDMI and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus OM-D E-M5 comes with BLN-1 battery pack with battery life of 360 shots and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II comes with BLH-1 battery pack with battery life of 350 shots.

External Storage Slots

Olympus OM-D E-M5 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot. 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).

Shutter

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II has Mechanical Focal Plane shutter and Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Olympus OM-D E-M5, 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 II. Olympus OM-D E-M5 can shoot continuously up to 9.0 fps. 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.

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 ±3 EV range on Olympus OM-D E-M5 and ±5 EV range on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus OM-D E-M5 and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on both cameras.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 body has dimensions of 122 x 89 x 43 mm (4.8 x 3.5 x 1.69") and 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"). Olympus OM-D E-M5 weighs 425 g (0.94 lb / 14.99 oz) and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II weighs 574 g (1.27 lb / 20.25 oz).

Olympus OM-D E-M5

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

122 mm

89 mm

134 mm

91 mm

89 mm

91 mm

43 mm

67 mm