Olympus PEN E-PM2 vs Olympus PEN E-PL8

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus PEN E-PM2 and the Olympus PEN E-PL8, 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-PM2 was introduced in May 2013 and Olympus PEN E-PL8 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 PEN E-PM2 over Olympus PEN E-PL8.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus PEN E-PL8 over Olympus PEN E-PM2.

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-PM2 and Olympus PEN E-PL8 have 3.0" screens with 460k dot and 1,037k dot resolutions respectively. Olympus PEN E-PM2 has a Fixed screen Olympus PEN E-PL8 has a Tilting screen which makes it 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.

Cameras does not have built-in viewfinders but optional viewfinder can be attached.

Both models feature 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. Their native ISO range is 200 - 25,600

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-PM2 can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 2560 x 1920, 1024 x 768 with 4:3, 16:9 aspect ratios. Olympus PEN E-PL8 is equipped with TruePic VII processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3200 x 2400, 1280 x 960 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 in-body image stabilization (IBIS) (3.5 stops of compensation in Olympus PEN E-PL8). 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 PEN E-PL8

Olympus PEN E-PL8 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 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Olympus PEN E-PM2 has a Mini type C HDMI and Olympus PEN E-PL8 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus PEN E-PM2 comes with BLS-5 battery pack with battery life of 360 shots.

External Storage Slots

Cameras have a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Olympus PEN E-PL8 has Computerized focal-plane high-speed mechanical shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Olympus PEN E-PM2, and up to 1/4000 sec on Olympus PEN E-PL8. Cameras can shoot continuously up to 8.0 fps.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Olympus PEN E-PL8 ranges from -2 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±3 EV range on Olympus PEN E-PM2 and ±5 EV range on Olympus PEN E-PL8. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus PEN E-PM2 and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus PEN E-PL8.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe or Wireless connection. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Olympus PEN E-PM2.

Olympus PEN E-PM2 body has dimensions of 110 x 64 x 34 mm (4.33 x 2.52 x 1.34") and Olympus PEN E-PL8 body has dimensions of 115 x 67 x 38 mm (4.53 x 2.64 x 1.5"). Olympus PEN E-PM2 weighs 269 g (0.59 lb / 9.49 oz) and Olympus PEN E-PL8 weighs 357 g (0.79 lb / 12.59 oz).

Olympus PEN E-PM2

Olympus PEN E-PL8

110 mm

64 mm

115 mm

67 mm

64 mm

67 mm

34 mm

38 mm