Olympus E-M5 II vs Sony A99
80 Imaging
53 Features
84 Overall
65
57 Imaging
68 Features
88 Overall
76
Olympus E-M5 II vs Sony A99 Key Specs
(Full Review)
- 16MP - Four Thirds Sensor
- 3" Fully Articulated Display
- ISO 200 - 25600
- Sensor based 5-axis Image Stabilization
- 1/8000s Max Shutter
- 1920 x 1080 video
- Micro Four Thirds Mount
- 469g - 124 x 85 x 45mm
- Announced February 2015
- Succeeded the Olympus E-M5
- Replacement is Olympus E-M5 III
(Full Review)
- 24MP - Full frame Sensor
- 3" Fully Articulated Screen
- ISO 100 - 25600
- Sensor based Image Stabilization
- 1/8000s Maximum Shutter
- 1920 x 1080 video
- Sony/Minolta Alpha Mount
- 812g - 147 x 111 x 78mm
- Introduced December 2012
- Superseded the Sony A900
- Renewed by Sony A99 II
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On this page, we will be contrasting the Olympus E-M5 II versus Sony A99, former is a Advanced Mirrorless while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a sizable gap among the resolutions of the E-M5 II (16MP) and A99 (24MP) and the E-M5 II (Four Thirds) and A99 (Full frame) boast totally different sensor sizing.
Sora from OpenAI releases its first ever music videoThe E-M5 II was released 2 years after the A99 which is a fairly significant difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-M5 II being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A99 being a Mid-size SLR camera.
Before diving straight to a full comparison, here is a quick synopsis of how the E-M5 II scores against the A99 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.
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Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus OM-D E-M5 II & Sony SLT-A99. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-M5 II Gallery & Sony A99 Gallery.
Reasons to pick Olympus E-M5 II over the Sony A99
| E-M5 II | A99 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduced | February 2015 | December 2012 | Newer by 27 months | |
| Touch friendly screen | Quickly navigate |
Reasons to pick Sony A99 over the Olympus E-M5 II
| A99 | E-M5 II | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen resolution | 1229k | 1037k | Crisper screen (+192k dot) |
Common features in the Olympus E-M5 II and Sony A99
| E-M5 II | A99 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual focus | More accurate focusing | |||
| Screen type | Fully Articulated | Fully Articulated | Fully Articulated screen | |
| Screen dimensions | 3" | 3" | Equal screen measurement | |
| Selfie screen | Both are selfie friendly |
Olympus E-M5 II vs Sony A99 Physical Comparison
For those who are looking to travel with your camera often, you are going to need to think about its weight and size. 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) while the Sony A99 has specifications of 147mm x 111mm x 78mm (5.8" x 4.4" x 3.1") having a weight of 812 grams (1.79 lbs).
Compare the Olympus E-M5 II versus Sony A99 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.
Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you have chosen at that time. Following is a front view measurement comparison of the E-M5 II versus the A99.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-M5 II and A99 is 80 and 57 respectively.
Olympus E-M5 II vs Sony A99 Sensor Comparison
Quite often, it is hard to see the difference in sensor dimensions only by checking out a spec sheet. The pic underneath will give you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-M5 II and A99.
Clearly, both of the cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-M5 II due to its smaller sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field more challenging and the Sony A99 will provide extra detail as a result of its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also help you crop photographs more aggressively. The more modern E-M5 II is going to have an edge in sensor tech.
Olympus E-M5 II vs Sony A99 Screen and ViewFinder
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Olympus E-M5 II vs Sony A99 Specifications
| Olympus OM-D E-M5 II | Sony SLT-A99 | |
|---|---|---|
| General Information | ||
| Brand Name | Olympus | Sony |
| Model | Olympus OM-D E-M5 II | Sony SLT-A99 |
| Class | Advanced Mirrorless | Advanced DSLR |
| Announced | 2015-02-06 | 2012-12-12 |
| Body design | SLR-style mirrorless | Mid-size SLR |
| Sensor Information | ||
| Chip | TruePic VII | Bionz |
| Sensor type | MOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | Four Thirds | Full frame |
| Sensor dimensions | 17.3 x 13mm | 35.8 x 23.8mm |
| Sensor surface area | 224.9mm² | 852.0mm² |
| Sensor resolution | 16 megapixels | 24 megapixels |
| Anti aliasing filter | ||
| Aspect ratio | 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 | 3:2 and 16:9 |
| Highest resolution | 4608 x 3456 | 6000 x 4000 |
| Highest native ISO | 25600 | 25600 |
| Lowest native ISO | 200 | 100 |
| RAW photos | ||
| Lowest boosted ISO | 100 | - |
| Autofocusing | ||
| Focus manually | ||
| Autofocus touch | ||
| Continuous autofocus | ||
| Single autofocus | ||
| Autofocus tracking | ||
| Autofocus selectice | ||
| Center weighted autofocus | ||
| Autofocus multi area | ||
| Live view autofocus | ||
| Face detect autofocus | ||
| Contract detect autofocus | ||
| Phase detect autofocus | ||
| Number of focus points | 81 | 19 |
| Cross focus points | - | 11 |
| Lens | ||
| Lens mount | Micro Four Thirds | Sony/Minolta Alpha |
| Amount of lenses | 107 | 143 |
| Focal length multiplier | 2.1 | 1 |
| Screen | ||
| Range of display | Fully Articulated | Fully Articulated |
| Display diagonal | 3 inches | 3 inches |
| Resolution of display | 1,037k dot | 1,229k dot |
| Selfie friendly | ||
| Liveview | ||
| Touch screen | ||
| Display technology | - | TFT Xtra Fine color LCD |
| Viewfinder Information | ||
| Viewfinder type | Electronic | Electronic |
| Viewfinder resolution | 2,360k dot | 2,359k dot |
| Viewfinder coverage | 100 percent | 100 percent |
| Viewfinder magnification | 0.74x | 0.71x |
| Features | ||
| Lowest shutter speed | 60 secs | 30 secs |
| Highest shutter speed | 1/8000 secs | 1/8000 secs |
| Highest quiet shutter speed | 1/16000 secs | - |
| Continuous shooting speed | 10.0fps | 10.0fps |
| Shutter priority | ||
| Aperture priority | ||
| Expose Manually | ||
| Exposure compensation | Yes | Yes |
| Change white balance | ||
| Image stabilization | ||
| Inbuilt flash | ||
| Flash range | no built-in flash | no built-in flash |
| Flash options | Auto, redeye, fill, off, redeye slow sync, slow sync, 2nd-curtain slow sync, manual | Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Slow Sync, High Speed Sync, Rear Curtain, Fill-in, Wireless |
| Hot shoe | ||
| Auto exposure bracketing | ||
| White balance bracketing | ||
| Highest flash sync | 1/250 secs | 1/250 secs |
| Exposure | ||
| Multisegment metering | ||
| Average metering | ||
| Spot metering | ||
| Partial metering | ||
| AF area metering | ||
| Center weighted metering | ||
| Video features | ||
| Supported video resolutions | 1920 x 1080 (60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, 24p), 1280 x 720 (60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, 24p), 640 x 480 (30p) | 1920 x 1080 (60, 24 fps), 1440 x 1080 (30fps), 640 x 424 (29.97 fps) |
| Highest video resolution | 1920x1080 | 1920x1080 |
| Video data format | MPEG-4, H.264, Motion JPEG | MPEG-4, AVCHD, H.264 |
| Mic input | ||
| Headphone input | ||
| Connectivity | ||
| Wireless | Built-In | None |
| Bluetooth | ||
| NFC | ||
| HDMI | ||
| USB | USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) | USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) |
| GPS | None | BuiltIn |
| Physical | ||
| Environmental seal | ||
| Water proof | ||
| Dust proof | ||
| Shock proof | ||
| Crush proof | ||
| Freeze proof | ||
| Weight | 469 gr (1.03 lbs) | 812 gr (1.79 lbs) |
| Physical dimensions | 124 x 85 x 45mm (4.9" x 3.3" x 1.8") | 147 x 111 x 78mm (5.8" x 4.4" x 3.1") |
| DXO scores | ||
| DXO All around score | 73 | 89 |
| DXO Color Depth score | 23.0 | 25.0 |
| DXO Dynamic range score | 12.4 | 14.0 |
| DXO Low light score | 896 | 1555 |
| Other | ||
| Battery life | 310 pictures | 500 pictures |
| Battery format | Battery Pack | Battery Pack |
| Battery model | BLN-1 | NP-FM500H |
| Self timer | Yes (2 or 10 secs, custom) | Yes (2 or 10 sec) |
| Time lapse recording | ||
| Storage media | SD/SDHC/SDXC | Memory Stick PRO Duo/Pro-HG Duo; SD, SDHC and SDXC |
| Storage slots | 1 | Two |
| Cost at launch | $699 | $1,998 |