Olympus E-M1 vs Panasonic LS5

Its time to look a little more closely at the Olympus E-M1 and Panasonic LS5, former is a Pro Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Compact by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. The image resolution of the E-M1 (16MP) and the LS5 (14MP) is very well matched but the E-M1 (Four Thirds) and LS5 (1/2.3") use different sensor size.

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The E-M1 was manufactured 2 years after the LS5 which is quite a large difference as far as technology is concerned. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-M1 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic LS5 being a Compact camera.

Before we go through a full comparison, below is a quick view of how the E-M1 scores vs the LS5 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS5. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-M1 Gallery & Panasonic LS5 Gallery.

If you are looking to travel with your camera frequently, you should think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-M1 has got outside measurements of 130mm x 94mm x 63mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.5") accompanied by a weight of 497 grams (1.10 lbs) whilst the Panasonic LS5 has dimensions of 97mm x 62mm x 27mm (3.8" x 2.4" x 1.1") accompanied by a weight of 126 grams (0.28 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-M1 and Panasonic LS5 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you choose at the time. Following is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-M1 versus the LS5.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-M1 and LS5 is 71 and 94 respectively.

Sometimes, it is tough to picture the gap between sensor dimensions purely by reading through a spec sheet. The pic underneath may give you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-M1 and LS5.

As you can see, each of the cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-M1 because of its larger sensor is going to make shooting bokeh less difficult and the Olympus E-M1 will resolve greater detail due to its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also let you crop photos far more aggressively. The younger E-M1 should have a benefit when it comes to sensor innovation.