Olympus PEN E-PL9 vs OM System OM-1

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus PEN E-PL9 and the OM System OM-1, 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 PEN E-PL9 was introduced in February 2018 and OM System OM-1 was introduced in February 2022. 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 PEN E-PL9 over OM System OM-1.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose OM System OM-1 over Olympus PEN E-PL9.

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 PEN E-PL9 and OM System OM-1 have 3.0" screens with 1,040k dot and 1,620k dot resolutions respectively. Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a Tilting screen which makes it very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. OM System OM-1 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.

Electronic (OLED) Viewfinder on OM System OM-1

OM System OM-1 has a built-in Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 5,760k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 1.65x (0.83x 35mm equivalent) magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Olympus PEN E-PL9.

Olympus PEN E-PL9 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 - 6,400 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode. OM System OM-1 features a 20.4 megapixel Micro Four Thirds Stacked Live MOS 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 80 - 102,400 in boosted mode.

OM System OM-1 has Stacked Live MOS sensor

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 PEN E-PL9 is equipped with TruePic VIII processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. OM System OM-1 is equipped with TruePic X Dual Quad 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 OM System OM-1

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on OM System OM-1. 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 in-body image stabilization (IBIS) (3.5 stops of compensation in Olympus PEN E-PL9 and 7 stops of compensation in OM System OM-1). 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 PEN E-PL9, Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac/b/g/n 2.4/5 GHz on OM System OM-1) 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

Olympus PEN E-PL9 and OM System OM-1 have built-in Bluetooth (version 4.0 LE on Olympus PEN E-PL9, version 4.2 LE on OM System OM-1) 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. Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a Micro HDMI and OM System OM-1 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus PEN E-PL9 comes with BLS-50 battery pack with battery life of 350 shots and OM System OM-1 comes with BLX-1 battery pack with battery life of 520 shots.

External Storage Slots

Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot. OM System OM-1 has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slots.

Shutter

Olympus PEN E-PL9 has Focal-plane (mechanical and electronic) shutter. OM System OM-1 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 PEN E-PL9, and up to 1/32000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on OM System OM-1. Olympus PEN E-PL9 can shoot continuously up to 8.6 fps. OM System OM-1 can shoot continuously up to 120.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 10.0 fps with mechanical shutter.

Focusing

Olympus PEN E-PL9 has 121 focusing points and OM System OM-1 has 1053 (1053 cross-type) focusing points. OM System OM-1 has detection range from -6 to +19 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 PEN E-PL9 and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on OM System OM-1.

Flash

Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 7.60 m at ISO 200 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. OM System OM-1 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 both cameras.

Olympus PEN E-PL9 body has dimensions of 117 x 68 x 39 mm (4.61 x 2.68 x 1.54") and OM System OM-1 body has dimensions of 135 x 92 x 73 mm (5.31 x 3.62 x 2.87"). Olympus PEN E-PL9 weighs 380 g (0.84 lb / 13.40 oz) and OM System OM-1 weighs 599 g (1.32 lb / 21.13 oz).

Olympus PEN E-PL9

OM System OM-1

117 mm

68 mm

135 mm

92 mm

68 mm

92 mm

39 mm

73 mm