Olympus E-5 vs Panasonic GM1

Below, we are looking at the Olympus E-5 versus Panasonic GM1, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. There is a substantial difference between the image resolutions of the E-5 (12MP) and GM1 (16MP) but they come with the exact same sensor dimensions (Four Thirds).

Photography Glossary

The E-5 was released 3 years before the GM1 and that is quite a big difference as far as tech is concerned. Each of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-5 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic GM1 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving through a detailed comparison, below is a short introduction of how the E-5 scores vs the GM1 for portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-5 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-5 Gallery & Panasonic GM1 Gallery.

In case you're going to carry your camera regularly, you need to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-5 features exterior dimensions of 143mm x 117mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") and a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs) and the Panasonic GM1 has sizing of 99mm x 55mm x 30mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 1.2") having a weight of 204 grams (0.45 lbs).

See the Olympus E-5 versus Panasonic GM1 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you have at the time. The following is the front view proportions comparison of the E-5 versus the GM1.

Considering size and weight, the portability rating of the E-5 and GM1 is 58 and 93 respectively.

In many cases, it can be hard to see the difference between sensor sizing only by going over specs. The graphic below might give you a more clear sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-5 and GM1.

As you can plainly see, both the cameras have got the exact same sensor measurements but not the same MP. You can expect to see the Panasonic GM1 to deliver more detail as a result of its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop images much more aggressively. The older E-5 is going to be behind when it comes to sensor tech.