Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X vs Olympus PEN-F

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X and the Olympus PEN-F, 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-S5 II X was introduced in January 2023 and Olympus PEN-F was introduced in January 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 Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X over Olympus PEN-F.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus PEN-F over Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X.

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-S5 II X and Olympus PEN-F have 3.0" Fully Articulated screens with 1,840k dot and 1,037k dot resolutions respectively. 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

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X has a built-in Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 3,680k dot resolution and Olympus PEN-F has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X features a 24.2 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.6 x 23.8 mm and a total area of 847.3 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 50 - 204,800 in boosted mode. Olympus PEN-F features a 20 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 200 - 25,600 and expands to 80 - 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

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X is equipped with Venus Engine processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution. Olympus PEN-F is equipped with TruePic VII processor and can take pictures up to 5184 x 3888 resolution.

Lens Mount

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X has Leica L lens mount and Olympus PEN-F has Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor in Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X its crop factor is equal to 1x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Olympus PEN-F its crop factor 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-S5 II X

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X. 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 Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X). 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 (Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac/b/g/n 2.4/5 GHz on Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X, 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Olympus PEN-F) 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-S5 II X

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X 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. Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X has a Full Size HDMI and Olympus PEN-F has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X comes with DMW-BLJ31 battery pack with battery life of 370 shots and Olympus PEN-F comes with BLN-1 battery pack with battery life of 330 shots.

External Storage Slots

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slots. Olympus PEN-F has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X, and up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Olympus PEN-F. Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X can shoot continuously up to 30.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 9.0 fps with mechanical shutter. Olympus PEN-F can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps.

Focusing

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X has 779 focusing points and Olympus PEN-F has 81 focusing points. Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X has detection range from -6 to +18 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X ranges from 0 to +18 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 Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus PEN-F.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe to Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X.

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X body has dimensions of 134 x 102 x 90 mm (5.29 x 4.03 x 3.55") and Olympus PEN-F body has dimensions of 125 x 72 x 37 mm (4.92 x 2.83 x 1.46"). Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X weighs 740 g (1.63 lb / 26.10 oz) and Olympus PEN-F weighs 427 g (0.94 lb / 15.06 oz).

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II X

Olympus PEN-F

134 mm

102 mm

125 mm

72 mm

102 mm

72 mm

90 mm

37 mm