Olympus E-M5 II vs Panasonic ZS8

Below is a comprehensive assessment of the Olympus E-M5 II and Panasonic ZS8, former being a Advanced Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. The image resolution of the E-M5 II (16MP) and the ZS8 (14MP) is pretty similar but the E-M5 II (Four Thirds) and ZS8 (1/2.3") have different sensor measurements.

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The E-M5 II was unveiled 3 years later than the ZS8 and that is quite a large difference as far as technology is concerned. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-M5 II being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic ZS8 being a Compact camera.

Before we go into a thorough comparison, here is a quick summation of how the E-M5 II matches up against the ZS8 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus OM-D E-M5 II & Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-M5 II Gallery & Panasonic ZS8 Gallery.

When you are intending to lug around your camera often, you'll have to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-M5 II provides exterior measurements of 124mm x 85mm x 45mm (4.9" x 3.3" x 1.8") and a weight of 469 grams (1.03 lbs) and the Panasonic ZS8 has sizing of 105mm x 58mm x 33mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.3") accompanied by a weight of 210 grams (0.46 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-M5 II and Panasonic ZS8 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you have at that moment. Below is a front view size comparison of the E-M5 II vs the ZS8.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-M5 II and ZS8 is 80 and 92 respectively.

More often than not, it is very difficult to picture the difference between sensor measurements merely by reading technical specs. The visual underneath may give you a greater sense of the sensor sizing in the E-M5 II and ZS8.

As you have seen, both of these cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-M5 II with its bigger sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF less difficult and the Olympus E-M5 II will deliver extra detail having an extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop pictures a good deal more aggressively. The fresher E-M5 II provides an edge in sensor technology.