Olympus E-M1 vs Olympus VH-515

The following is a detailed overview of the Olympus E-M1 vs Olympus VH-515, former is a Pro Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and they are both created by Olympus. There is a noticeable difference between the image resolutions of the E-M1 (16MP) and VH-515 (12MP) and the E-M1 (Four Thirds) and VH-515 (1/2.3") posses different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-M1 was announced 15 months after the VH-515 which makes them a generation away from each other. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-M1 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Olympus VH-515 being a Compact camera.

Before getting right into a more detailed comparison, here is a short synopsis of how the E-M1 matches up vs the VH-515 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus VH-515. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-M1 Gallery & Olympus VH-515 Gallery.

If you are planning to travel with your camera, you need to take into account its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-M1 comes with exterior dimensions of 130mm x 94mm x 63mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.5") and a weight of 497 grams (1.10 lbs) and the Olympus VH-515 has proportions of 102mm x 60mm x 21mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 0.8") and a weight of 152 grams (0.34 lbs).

See the Olympus E-M1 vs Olympus VH-515 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you are utilizing at that moment. Here is a front view overall size comparison of the E-M1 compared to the VH-515.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability rating of the E-M1 and VH-515 is 71 and 95 respectively.

In many cases, it can be tough to visualize the gap between sensor dimensions simply by checking specs. The picture below will help provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-M1 and VH-515.

As you can plainly see, both cameras have different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-M1 having a bigger sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Olympus E-M1 will give extra detail with its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also let you crop shots a bit more aggressively. The fresher E-M1 provides a benefit with regard to sensor innovation.