Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 vs Olympus PEN E-PM1

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 and the Olympus PEN E-PM1, 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.

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 was introduced in February 2018 and Olympus PEN E-PM1 was introduced in November 2011. 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 Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 over Olympus PEN E-PM1.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus PEN E-PM1 over Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9.

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

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 and Olympus PEN E-PM1 have 3.0" screens with 1,240k dot and 460k dot resolutions respectively. Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 has a Tilting screen which makes it very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Olympus PEN E-PM1 has a Fixed screen Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 also features 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

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 2,760k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 1.39x (0.70x 35mm equivalent) magnification.Olympus PEN E-PM1 does not have a built-in viewfinder but an optional electronic viewfinder can be attached.

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 features a 20.3 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 PEN E-PM1 features a 12.3 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 100 - 12,800.

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

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 is equipped with Venus Engine processor and can take pictures up to 5184 x 3888 resolution. Olympus PEN E-PM1 is equipped with TruePic VI processor and can take pictures up to 4032 x 3024 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3200 x 2400, 2560 x 1920, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480 with 4:3, 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.

No Low-Pass Filter on Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9. 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) (4 stops of compensation in Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9). 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 Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 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 Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 has a built-in Bluetooth (version 4.2 LE) 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. Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 has a Micro HDMI and Olympus PEN E-PM1 has a Mini type C HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus PEN E-PM1 comes with BLS-5 battery pack with battery life of 330 shots.

External Storage Slots

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot. Olympus PEN E-PM1 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 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 Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9, and up to 1/4000 sec on Olympus PEN E-PM1. Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 can shoot continuously up to 9.0 fps. Olympus PEN E-PM1 can shoot continuously up to 5.5 fps.

Focusing

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 has 49 focusing points and Olympus PEN E-PM1 has 35 focusing points. Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 has detection range from -4 to +18 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 ranges from 0 to +18 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 and ±3 EV range on Olympus PEN E-PM1. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus PEN E-PM1.

Flash

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 6.00 m at ISO 200 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. Olympus PEN E-PM1 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 and 1/160 sec on Olympus PEN E-PM1.

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 body has dimensions of 124 x 72 x 47 mm (4.88 x 2.83 x 1.85") and Olympus PEN E-PM1 body has dimensions of 110 x 64 x 34 mm (4.33 x 2.52 x 1.34"). Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 weighs 450 g (0.99 lb / 15.87 oz) and Olympus PEN E-PM1 weighs 265 g (0.58 lb / 9.35 oz).

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9

Olympus PEN E-PM1

124 mm

72 mm

110 mm

64 mm

72 mm

64 mm

47 mm

34 mm