Olympus E-M1 II vs Sigma SD1 Merrill

Let's look more in depth at the Olympus E-M1 II and Sigma SD1 Merrill, one being a Pro Mirrorless and the other is a Advanced DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sigma. There exists a sizeable gap among the image resolutions of the E-M1 II (20MP) and SD1 Merrill (15MP) and the E-M1 II (Four Thirds) and SD1 Merrill (APS-C) have different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-M1 II was launched 4 years later than the SD1 Merrill and that is a fairly large gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-M1 II being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sigma SD1 Merrill being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before delving straight to a in-depth comparison, here is a quick introduction of how the E-M1 II matches up versus the SD1 Merrill for portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and Sigma SD1 Merrill. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-M1 II Gallery and Sigma SD1 Merrill Gallery.

When you are aiming to carry your camera frequently, you are going to need to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-M1 II comes with external measurements of 134mm x 91mm x 67mm (5.3" x 3.6" x 2.6") with a weight of 574 grams (1.27 lbs) while the Sigma SD1 Merrill has dimensions of 146mm x 113mm x 80mm (5.7" x 4.4" x 3.1") having a weight of 790 grams (1.74 lbs).

See the Olympus E-M1 II and Sigma SD1 Merrill in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you are utilizing at the time. Below is a front view measurements comparison of the E-M1 II and the SD1 Merrill.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-M1 II and SD1 Merrill is 68 and 57 respectively.

Typically, its tough to picture the contrast in sensor sizing only by researching a spec sheet. The visual below may provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-M1 II and SD1 Merrill.

As you can see, the 2 cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E-M1 II due to its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field trickier and the Olympus E-M1 II will provide you with greater detail utilizing its extra 5 Megapixels. Greater resolution will help you crop photos a good deal more aggressively. The more recent E-M1 II provides an edge in sensor tech.