Olympus E-M1 II vs Sony A55

Here, we are contrasting the Olympus E-M1 II versus Sony A55, former is a Pro Mirrorless while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap among the image resolutions of the E-M1 II (20MP) and A55 (16MP) and the E-M1 II (Four Thirds) and A55 (APS-C) offer totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-M1 II was unveiled 6 years after the A55 which is a fairly large difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-M1 II being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A55 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving right into a thorough comparison, here is a quick summation of how the E-M1 II scores against the A55 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II & Sony SLT-A55. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-M1 II Gallery & Sony A55 Gallery.

If you're intending to travel with your camera frequently, you're going to have to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-M1 II enjoys outside measurements of 134mm x 91mm x 67mm (5.3" x 3.6" x 2.6") and a weight of 574 grams (1.27 lbs) whilst the Sony A55 has sizing of 124mm x 92mm x 85mm (4.9" x 3.6" x 3.3") having a weight of 500 grams (1.10 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-M1 II versus Sony A55 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you have during that time. Following is a front view size comparison of the E-M1 II compared to the A55.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-M1 II and A55 is 68 and 67 respectively.

Normally, it is very hard to envision the difference in sensor dimensions purely by researching specs. The pic below should give you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-M1 II and A55.

As you can plainly see, both cameras feature different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-M1 II having a smaller sensor will make getting shallower depth of field more difficult and the Olympus E-M1 II will result in more detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also let you crop images way more aggressively. The younger E-M1 II will have a benefit in sensor innovation.