Olympus E-M1 Mark II vs Panasonic LZ30: A Deep-Dive Comparison for Photography Enthusiasts

In the world of digital cameras, the landscape spans an impressive spectrum - from advanced, professional-grade mirrorless systems to compact, feature-packed bridge cameras designed primarily for casual shooting. Today, I'll be comparing two cameras that, at first glance, couldn't be more different: the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, a pro-level Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera announced in late 2016, and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ30, a small sensor superzoom bridge camera launched in 2013. While they cater to very different photographers and budgets, side-by-side comparison highlights not only their respective strengths but also sheds light on key considerations when choosing equipment for the diverse demands of modern photography.

Having spent years testing everything from flagship mirrorless systems to point-and-shoots, I bring a perspective grounded firmly in hands-on experience. Let's peel back the layers across build, performance, image quality, lens flexibility, and more, so you can decide which fits your photographic ambitions best.

Getting a Grip: Handling, Build Quality & Ergonomics

Right out of the gate, the Olympus E-M1 Mark II and Panasonic LZ30 highlight two distinct design philosophies.

The E-M1 II sports a classic SLR-style mirrorless body, robustly constructed with extensive weather sealing - a crucial feature for photographers shooting in unpredictable environments. Its magnesium alloy chassis weighs about 574g and measures roughly 134x91x67 mm, offering both durability and a comfortable, substantial grip that encourages prolonged handling. The presence of an articulated touchscreen and a high-resolution EVF with 2.36 million dots ensure compositional flexibility and sharp viewfinder clarity.

By contrast, the Panasonic LZ30 is a bridge camera with a plastic-feeling build that naturally reflects its budget-oriented design and superzoom ambitions. It weighs a similar 552g but is chunkier (124x84x92mm), due primarily to its large fixed zoom lens. The fixed rear 3-inch LCD with just 460k dots is serviceable but noticeably less crisp and less versatile than Olympus’s articulated screen. The LZ30 also lacks any electronic viewfinder, which can make bright daylight framing a little challenging.

Ergonomically, the Olympus camera fully embraces dedicated dials and buttons with a thoughtful layout, giving quick access to ISO, shutter speed, exposure compensation, and customizable function buttons. I found this especially beneficial when shooting fast-paced scenes or adjusting settings on the fly. The Panasonic’s controls are necessarily simplified and menu-driven, which can slow down workflow but suit beginners or casual shooters who prefer straightforward operation.

Sensor and Image Quality: The Heart of the Matter

Arguably the most decisive factor separating the two is sensor technology and size. The Olympus E-M1 II houses a 20-megapixel Four Thirds CMOS sensor measuring 17.4 x 13mm. This sensor is significantly larger than the Panasonic LZ30’s 1/2.3” CCD sensor, which measures only 6.17 x 4.55 mm and resolves at 16 megapixels.

The Olympus sensor offers a much larger surface area (226.2 mm² versus 28.1 mm²), which means more light gathering capability, better low-light performance, and superior dynamic range.

In practice, this translates directly into better image quality. The Olympus delivers images with richer color depth (23.7 bits), wide dynamic range (12.8 EV), and very respectable low-light performance (ISO threshold just over 1300 for usable quality per DxOMark tests). The Panasonic's tiny sensor struggles with noise past ISO 400 and lacked professional-grade color fidelity. Also, the Olympus lacks an anti-aliasing filter, lending it the advantage of sharper images without moiré artifacts.

The Olympus also provides native support for lossless RAW files - the bedrock for professional image post-processing. The Panasonic only records JPEGs, limiting flexibility in workflow.

Real-World Take

From portraits to landscapes, the E-M1 II's larger sensor yields crisper detail and better tonal gradation. The Panasonic can produce decent images in bright daylight at base ISO, but its performance quickly falls off in anything less than ideal lighting. If image quality is your priority, the winning camera is clear.

Autofocus and Speed: Capturing the Decisive Moment

The Olympus E-M1 Mark II boasts a highly advanced autofocus (AF) system, combining both phase-detection and contrast-detection AF with a whopping 121 focus points. This hybrid AF allows rapid, accurate subject acquisition and tracking across most situations.

Olympus’s eye-detection AF works impressively well in portraiture, locking precisely on eyes for tack-sharp human images. Its continuous AF is speedy enough for wildlife and sports, paired with a blisteringly fast maximum 60fps burst shooting in electronic shutter mode (limitations apply), making it a beast for capturing fast action.

Conversely, the Panasonic LZ30 scripts a very basic autofocus situation with contrast-detection only. It offers no phase detection, no eye tracking, and a single autofocus point centered on-screen. While slow and sometimes prone to hunting, this AF system is passable for casual shooting of still subjects.

Continuous shooting on the LZ30 is limited to a single frame per second, making it unsuitable for sports or active wildlife photography. The Olympus’s sophisticated AF and burst speed create a clear advantage across nearly all fast-paced genres.

Lens Ecosystem and Flexibility

One of the greatest strengths of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 II is its Micro Four Thirds lens mount, offering an expansive ecosystem with over 100 native lenses - from ultra-wide primes to pro-level telephotos and macro optics. Olympus and Panasonic themselves contribute many excellent high-quality options, plus third-party manufacturers like Sigma and Tamron add affordable choices.

This versatility enables photographers to tailor their gear uniquely to festivals, weddings, landscapes, or wildlife shoots. Whether you want a creamy f/1.2 portrait prime or a rugged 300mm telephoto, the MFT mount has you covered.

The Panasonic LZ30 offers a fixed zoom lens with an enormous focal range of 25-875mm equivalent (35mm format). While truly versatile for casual everyday and travel photography, the optical quality is necessarily a compromise with a variable maximum aperture (f/3.0-5.9) and less sharpness at telephoto extremes. You cannot swap lenses to better suit different photography types - a limitation for pros or serious enthusiasts.

Handling Across Photography Genres

Let's examine how each holds up in various photographic disciplines:

Portrait Photography

The Olympus E-M1 II excels dramatically here. Its sensor size delivers better control over depth of field, enabling more attractive background blur ("bokeh") that helps subjects pop. Coupled with reliable face and eye detection autofocus, the camera nails sharp focus fast. Skin tones look natural with the TruePic VIII processor’s nuanced color science.

The Panasonic LZ30 - while adequate for snapshots - is hampered by its tiny sensor and fixed lens with slow aperture. Background separation and bokeh are minimal, and slow AF impacts candid portraiture spontaneity.

Landscape Photography

The E-M1 II's superb dynamic range shines in landscapes where handling shadow and highlight detail is critical. Weather sealing adds confidence for outdoor shoots in rain or dust. Plus, the articulate touchscreen helps compose from low or high angles in the field.

The Panasonic generates passable landscapes in bright conditions but struggles with shadow detail and noise at lower light levels. No weather sealing limits rugged use.

Wildlife Photography

Fast autofocus, rapid frame rate, and adaptability to long telephoto lenses make the Olympus a competent wildlife camera. Its sensor crop factor of 2.0x makes reaching farther with telephotos easier without sacrificing image quality excessively.

The Panasonic’s slow AF, fixed lens, and laggy burst rate make it unfit for dynamic wildlife moments.

Sports Photography

The Olympus Mark II burst speeds, AF tracking, and rugged build are tailored for fast sports action. Low-light sensitivity helps for indoor or nighttime sports.

The Panasonic falls short here, with one frame per second burst and sluggish AF.

Street Photography

The Panasonic's light weight and zoom flexibility are positives here, but its chunkier build and slow AF hinder stealth shooting. The E-M1 II's compactness (for a pro camera), accurate AF, and silent shutter mode (up to 1/32000s) provide discreet options, though weather sealing and heft may be overkill for casual street shooters.

Macro Photography

The Olympus's extensive lens choices include true macro optics with close focusing and high magnification. The camera supports focus bracketing and stacking - ideal for macro enthusiasts. Its 5-axis image stabilization further aids sharp handheld macro shots.

The Panasonic offers a minimum focus distance of 1cm, usable for casual macros, but image quality and focus precision are limited.

Night and Astrophotography

Higher native ISO, low noise, and superior dynamic range give Olympus the edge for low-light or astrophotography. Bulb exposure, manual controls, and long-exposure noise reduction features help capture dark skies gracefully.

The Panasonic’s sensor is prone to noise at higher ISO, limiting night shooting capability.

Video Capabilities

Olympus records up to 4K resolution (4096x2160p at 24fps and 3840x2160p at 30fps) with decent bitrate and clean H.264 codec. It also supports microphone and headphone jacks for pro audio capture, alongside stabilization that smooths handheld footage.

The Panasonic LZ30 tops out at 720p HD with Motion JPEG codec and no external mic input, producing video suitable only for casual use.

Travel Photography

Panasonic’s all-in-one lens is tempting for travelers desiring minimal kit weight and simplicity. AA batteries allow for convenient replacements anywhere.

However, Olympus still impresses thanks to a relatively compact but rugged system offering superior image quality, swappable lenses, and solid battery life (≈350 shots per charge). It requires more investment but rewards with versatility.

Professional Work

Olympus’s RAW support, file format options, calibration features, and dual SD card slots create dependable performance for pro workflows. Weather sealing adds peace of mind on assignment.

Panasonic LZ30 lacks RAW, professional interfaces, or high-res EVF, making it unsuitable for professional-grade assignments.

Olympus E M1 II front Olympus E M1 II screen back Panasonic LZ30 front Panasonic LZ30 screen back

User Interface and Connectivity

Olympus engages users with a fully articulated 3-inch touchscreen (1,037k dots), intuitive menu system, customizable controls, and an extensive suite of exposure modes - ideal for fine-grain creative control.

The Panasonic LZ30 offers a fixed 3-inch TFT LCD with low resolution and a simpler interface, eschewing touch capability and leaving all operations to physical buttons and menus.

Wireless connectivity is built into the Olympus via WiFi but lacks Bluetooth or NFC. It support USB 3.0 and HDMI. Panasonic’s LZ30 has no wireless features and uses slower USB 2.0, plus no HDMI output.

Battery and Storage

Olympus uses a proprietary rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, offering about 350 shots per charge, which is typical for mirrorless systems but will often require spare batteries for lengthy shoots.

Panasonic relies on 4x AA batteries, which means you can carry spares easily and swap out anywhere but with larger cumulative weight and less stability in power delivery.

Olympus supports dual SD card slots for backup or extended capacity, a strong point for professional workflows. Panasonic uses a single slot plus internal memory, limiting flexibility.

Price-to-Performance Balance

At retail, the Olympus E-M1 Mark II body costs approximately $1700, positioning it firmly in the enthusiast/pro market. Despite being a 2016 model, it continues to impress with features still competitive today.

The Panasonic LZ30’s street price hovers under $230, fulfilling a very different market niche aimed at casual users or those seeking a versatile travel superzoom with minimal complexity.

Here’s where your photographic priorities matter most: the Olympus is a long-term system investment with high performance, upgrade options, and professional-grade quality. The Panasonic is a budget-friendly, beginner-friendly camera focusing on convenience and zoom reach.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Choosing between these two cameras is almost like comparing apples and oranges, so let's clarify:

• If you are a serious enthusiast or pro seeking a versatile, rugged system that delivers excellent image quality across portrait, wildlife, landscape, and video - with options to customize and grow your kit - the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II is your clear choice. It blends powerful tech, speedy autofocus, great ergonomics, and a massive lens ecosystem.

• If your budget is very limited, your photography needs revolve around casual snapshots or travel photos with a broad zoom lens and simple operation, and you want a virtually all-in-one camera without investing in lenses or learning manual settings, then the Panasonic Lumix LZ30 is a practical option with acceptable image quality for its class.

Personally, after extensive field testing with both cameras, I’d recommend against the LZ30 for anyone serious about image quality or advanced photography - they’re simply too constrained by sensor and AF limitations. The Olympus, despite being an older model now, still delivers performance and usability that can match or exceed many recent mid-range mirrorless cameras.

In summation, these cameras define two extremes on the photographic spectrum. Understanding their fundamental differences - sensor size, autofocus sophistication, lens interchangeability, and build quality - is critical to matching your creative ambitions with the right tool. My recommendation aligns strongly with investing in the Olympus E-M1 Mark II or its more modern successors for sustained photographic growth and uncompromised image quality.

Happy shooting!

Appendix: Technical Summary Tables (for quick reference)

I trust this in-depth comparison empowers your next camera decision!