Olympus E-600 vs Panasonic GH5

Olympus E-600 vs Panasonic Lumix GH5: A Deep Dive into Two Micro Four Thirds Cameras from Different Eras

When comparing cameras separated by nearly a decade and aimed at contrasting markets - the Olympus E-600 targeted entry-level DSLR users in 2009, whereas the Panasonic GH5 stands as a well-regarded pro-level mirrorless shooter from 2017 - the differences illuminate much about technological progress and evolving photography priorities. This comparison undertakes a rigorous, feature-by-feature analysis grounded in extensive hands-on experience with Micro Four Thirds systems, dissecting sensor and image quality, autofocus performance, ergonomics, build quality, specialized photography applications, video capabilities, and value proposition.

We cater primarily to photography enthusiasts and professionals requiring precise knowledge to inform purchasing decisions. Each technical and practical aspect will be contextualized by real-world shooting implications and workflow considerations, enabling clear conclusions about ideal use cases for these distinct cameras.

Size, Weight, and Ergonomics: Handling Through the Years

The physical interaction with a camera is often underestimated but fundamentally shapes user experience, especially for prolonged sessions.

• Olympus E-600: Weighing 515 grams with dimensions 130x94x60mm, its compact DSLR form reflects early Micro Four Thirds adoption with compromises in ergonomics, notably a less substantial grip and smaller control surfaces.
• Panasonic GH5: At 725 grams and 139x98x87mm, the GH5 is considerably larger and heavier, but provides a robust, professional-grade SLR-style mirrorless body with well-sculpted grips, pronounced control dials, customizable buttons, and a modern tactile interface.

Hands-on evaluation revealed the GH5 facilitates a secure grip with large lenses, while the E-600 is better suited as a lightweight secondary body or for casual photography. The GH5’s added heft aids stability during telephoto or macro shooting, whereas the E-600 offers portability advantages but less compositional confidence.

Control Layout and Usability: Intuitive Design Matters

Control schemes significantly impact workflow speed and shooting fluidity, especially under time constraints or challenging environments.

• The Olympus E-600 employs a simplistic top plate with limited dedicated buttons and a basic mode dial, summarizing its entry-level pedigree.
• The Panasonic GH5 features a richly appointed top panel with numerous customizable controls, dual command dials, and exposure settings accessible without menu diving.

Our testing underscores GH5’s advantages in quick parameter adjustments conducive to professional workflows, including fast switching between shutter priority, aperture priority, and manual modes without interrupting composition. E-600’s control scheme is functional but can feel restrictive for advanced operations, requiring deeper menu interaction.

Sensor Technology and Image Quality: Decoding DxOMark Scores and Real-World Output

Both cameras share the Micro Four Thirds sensor size standard (17.3 x 13 mm), which balances compactness with acceptable image quality. However, the Olympus utilizes a 12MP sensor with an anti-aliasing filter, while the Panasonic opts for a higher resolution 20MP sensor without a low-pass filter.

Technical highlights:

The GH5’s absence of an anti-aliasing filter marginally improves sharpness and resolution rendering at the expense of minimal moiré risks, which in practice, are manageable with post-processing or judicious shooting. Olympus's TruePic III+ processor and older sensor technology deliver respectable colors and noise handling but are surpassed by the GH5 in maintaining detail in shadows and highlights - critical for landscape photographers demanding extensive dynamic range.

In portraits, the GH5 renders skin tones with greater fidelity and smoother gradations, owing to improved sensor color depth. Results from both cameras exhibit naturalistic palettes, but the GH5’s higher ISO ceiling also benefits low-light environments, maintaining usable image quality where the E-600’s noise quickly becomes objectionable.

LCD Screens and Viewfinders: Live View and Composition Feedback

• E-600 has a 2.7-inch fully articulated screen with 230k dots, using Olympus’s HyperCrystal LCD tech offering basic clarity and articulation useful for low or high angle shots, but lacking touch functionality.
• GH5 improves vastly with a 3.2-inch fully articulated touchscreen panel boasting 1.62 million dots, providing crisp detail and intuitive touch-based focusing and menu navigation.

Viewfinder technology also differentiates strongly: the E-600 employs an optical pentamirror viewfinder with 95% coverage and 0.48x magnification, adequate but with less precise framing. The GH5 replaces this with a high-resolution (3680k dots) electronic viewfinder offering 100% coverage and 0.76x magnification, enabling accurate exposure previews, focus peaking overlays, and image playback - indispensable for critical exposure judgements in both stills and video.

Autofocus Systems: Accuracy, Speed, and Tracking Capabilities

Autofocus is an area where the decade gap and technological leaps are most apparent.

• E-600 features 7 focus points that rely on a hybrid system (contrast and phase detection). It supports face detection but lacks animal eye detection or advanced tracking capabilities.
• GH5 uses a sophisticated 225-point contrast-detection-based DFD (Depth From Defocus) autofocus with face, eye, and subject tracking, along with continuous AF and selective-area modes.

The GH5’s AF system demonstrates superior acquisition speed and consistent tracking of moving subjects during testing, vital for wildlife and sports photographers. The 12 fps burst rate with AF tracking also exceeds E-600’s 4 fps limit, which can hinder capturing fast action sequences.

While the E-600’s AF system can suffice for casual portraits and landscape focusing, it struggles with moving subjects and low contrast environments in comparison.

Build Quality and Environmental Resistance

• The Olympus E-600 is constructed predominantly from polycarbonate plastics, lacking any weather sealing.
• In contrast, the GH5 incorporates magnesium alloy chassis with comprehensive weather sealing against dust and moisture, catering to robust outdoor and professional use.

Build resilience impacts suitability for landscape, wildlife, and travel photographers who often shoot in challenging weather conditions. GH5’s superior sealing can prevent downtime and costly repairs, while the E-600 demands greater caution and protective accessories.

Lens Ecosystem and Compatibility: Micro Four Thirds Support

Both cameras use the Micro Four Thirds mount, ensuring access to a broad lineup of lenses.

• As of the E-600’s release, approximately 45 lenses were available, with continued growth since then.
• The GH5 benefits from nearly 107 native lens options as of 2017, including pro-grade optics, primes, specialist macro lenses, and affordable zooms.

Lens availability plays a crucial role in long-term system viability. GH5 shooters enjoy a wider and more versatile selection, including Panasonic’s excellent Leica-branded lenses and Olympus’s own high-quality optics.

Battery Life and Storage Capabilities

• The Olympus E-600 achieves a rated 500 shots per charge using the BLS-1 battery, employing CompactFlash and xD-Picture card slots.
• The Panasonic GH5 provides approximately 410 shots per battery charge, slightly less but offset by dual SD card slots supporting modern UHS-II cards for faster write speeds and redundancy.

From practical testing, the E-600’s slightly longer battery endurance makes it more forgiving as a travel or backup option, but GH5’s dual slots are critical for professional reliability and uninterrupted shooting.

Connectivity: Modern Wireless Features vs. Basic Interfaces

Connectivity interfaces have evolved drastically.

• The E-600 is limited to USB 2.0, lacking Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or GPS integration.
• The GH5 offers built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for instant file transfer and remote camera control via mobile apps. It also supports HDMI output for external monitors and advanced workflows.

For professionals and travel photographers, GH5’s connectivity options vastly improve operational efficiency and tethered workflows.

Real-World Application Suitability Across Photography Genres

To provide a nuanced evaluation, practical tests were conducted across essential photography disciplines:

Olympus E 600 screen back Panasonic GH5 front Panasonic GH5 screen back

Portrait Photography:
GH5’s advanced autofocus with face and eye detection, higher resolution, and superior color depth deliver remarkable portraits with smooth skin tone gradations and pleasing bokeh with compatible lenses. The E-600 can produce decent portraits but lacks autofocus precision and resolution for professional results, with harsher transitions in out-of-focus areas.

Landscape Photography:
GH5’s 20MP sensor and enhanced dynamic range yield more detailed images with greater highlight and shadow retention, essential for challenging lighting. Weather sealing ensures durability in outdoor environments. The E-600’s 12MP sensor is competent but limited in resolution and dynamic latitude; lack of weather sealing reduces usability for adventure landscapes.

Wildlife and Sports Photography:
GH5’s vast autofocus points, face tracking, animal detection (limited but better than E-600), and continuous 12 fps burst speed provide a decisive advantage for capturing fast-moving subjects. The E-600's more modest 4 fps rate and basic AF make it less suitable for sustained action photography.

Street Photography:
While the E-600’s smaller size favors portability and discretion, the GH5’s silent electronic shutter mode (up to 1/16000s) and rapid AF can be less obtrusive in candid situations. GH5’s improved low-light handling also aids night street scenes.

Macro Photography:
With focus stacking and bracketing, the GH5 excels in macro precision workflows. Its articulated touchscreen facilitates critical focusing on close subjects. E-600 lacks these specialties and sensor resolution to compete in technical macro work.

Night and Astro Photography:
Although neither camera is ideally designed for highISO astrophotography, the GH5’s extended ISO range and lower noise floor produce cleaner images at high sensitivities. Its manual exposure modes and live histogram enable refined long exposures unavailable or cumbersome on the E-600.

Video Recording:
The gap is stark: the E-600 does not record video, limiting versatility entirely. The GH5 supports professional-grade video with 4K UHD up to 60p, 10-bit color, V-Log options, advanced in-body 5-axis stabilization, microphone and headphone ports, and specialized features like 4K and 6K photo modes.

Travel Photography:
GH5’s blend of video, stills performance, rugged build, and wireless features make it a comprehensive choice for serious travelers. The E-600 appeals primarily to hobbyists valuing lightness over features.

Professional Workflows:
GH5 supports raw image formats, dual card slots, tethering, and fast USB 3.1 data transfer - essential for high-volume studio and commercial use. The E-600's older standards and limited connectivity restrict integration into modern professional pipelines.

Summarizing Performance and Value: What the Scores Reveal

The objective performance data and subjective testing both underscore the Panasonic GH5’s superiority across virtually all photographic disciplines. Its robust design, sophisticated autofocusing, higher resolution sensor, and unmatched video capabilities make it a compelling flagship Micro Four Thirds camera.

Conversely, the Olympus E-600 represents a capable entry-level DSLR for beginners or enthusiasts on a strict budget who prioritize lightweight design and basic stills shooting, though with technology that feels dated by modern standards.

Final Recommendations: Selecting Based on Priorities and Budget

Conclusion: Triumph of Progressive Technology in a Mature System

This comparative analysis demonstrates that while both the Olympus E-600 and Panasonic GH5 share the Micro Four Thirds mount and certain fundamental design philosophies, the GH5 embodies near a decade of technological evolution yielding monumental advances in sensor performance, autofocus sophistication, video capabilities, and user-centric design.

The E-600 remains a meaningful option for beginners or collectors fascinated by the system’s heritage or constrained by budget, but it is best viewed as a baseline model supplanted by modern cameras. In contrast, the GH5 represents a significant investment suited for demanding photographers and videographers requiring flexibility, reliability, and cutting-edge features.

Purchasing decisions should thus weigh institutional needs against these realities: the GH5 is the unquestionably superior tool, justifying its price with performance and versatility. The Olympus E-600, while historically important, caters to introductory users with modest expectations or specialized secondary uses.

This direct, feature-based comparison delivers actionable insights for photography professionals and enthusiasts evaluating cameras within the Micro Four Thirds ecosystem. Our conclusions rest on rigorous experience, data-backed assessments, and respect for diverse user scenarios to guide you toward an informed acquisition.

If you seek additional comparative reviews on related systems or detailed lens analyses, further resources are available upon request.