Olympus E-M5 II vs Panasonic ZS1

Lets look more closely at the Olympus E-M5 II and Panasonic ZS1, one is a Advanced Mirrorless and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a crucial gap among the resolutions of the E-M5 II (16MP) and ZS1 (10MP) and the E-M5 II (Four Thirds) and ZS1 (1/2.5") enjoy different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The E-M5 II was released 5 years after the ZS1 which is a fairly serious gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-M5 II being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic ZS1 being a Compact camera.

Before diving straight into a more detailed comparison, below is a concise highlight of how the E-M5 II matches up against the ZS1 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus OM-D E-M5 II and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus E-M5 II Gallery and Panasonic ZS1 Gallery.

When you are planning to travel with your camera, you will want to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-M5 II comes with outside dimensions of 124mm x 85mm x 45mm (4.9" x 3.3" x 1.8") accompanied by a weight of 469 grams (1.03 lbs) and the Panasonic ZS1 has dimensions of 103mm x 60mm x 33mm (4.1" x 2.4" x 1.3") and a weight of 229 grams (0.50 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-M5 II and Panasonic ZS1 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you are using at that time. The following is the front view overall size comparison of the E-M5 II against the ZS1.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-M5 II and ZS1 is 80 and 91 respectively.

Quite often, it can be tough to picture the contrast in sensor dimensions merely by going through a spec sheet. The image underneath may provide you a clearer sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-M5 II and ZS1.

Clearly, both of those cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The E-M5 II featuring a bigger sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF simpler and the Olympus E-M5 II will provide more detail as a result of its extra 6MP. Higher resolution will let you crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The younger E-M5 II should have a benefit in sensor innovation.