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Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus Tough-3000

Portability
81
Imaging
52
Features
70
Overall
59
Olympus OM-D E-M5 front
 
Olympus Stylus Tough-3000 front
Portability
94
Imaging
35
Features
26
Overall
31

Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus Tough-3000 Key Specs

Olympus E-M5
(Full Review)
  • 16MP - Four Thirds Sensor
  • 3" Tilting Display
  • ISO 200 - 25600
  • Sensor based 5-axis Image Stabilization
  • 1920 x 1080 video
  • Micro Four Thirds Mount
  • 425g - 122 x 89 x 43mm
  • Released April 2012
  • Later Model is Olympus E-M5 II
Olympus Tough-3000
(Full Review)
  • 12MP - 1/2.3" Sensor
  • 2.7" Fixed Display
  • ISO 64 - 1600
  • Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
  • 1280 x 720 video
  • 28-102mm (F3.5-5.1) lens
  • 159g - 96 x 65 x 23mm
  • Announced January 2010
  • Also referred to as mju Tough 3000
Photography Glossary

Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus Tough-3000 Overview

Its time to take a closer look at the Olympus E-M5 and Olympus Tough-3000, former is a Advanced Mirrorless while the other is a Waterproof and they are both designed by Olympus. There exists a considerable gap between the image resolutions of the E-M5 (16MP) and Tough-3000 (12MP) and the E-M5 (Four Thirds) and Tough-3000 (1/2.3") posses different sensor sizing.

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The E-M5 was introduced 2 years after the Tough-3000 which is quite a large difference as far as technology is concerned. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-M5 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Olympus Tough-3000 being a Compact camera.

Before we go straight to a comprehensive comparison, here is a short highlight of how the E-M5 matches up against the Tough-3000 for portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

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Reasons to pick Olympus E-M5 over the Olympus Tough-3000

 E-M5 Tough-3000 
AnnouncedApril 2012January 2010More modern by 29 months
Manual focus Very exact focus
Display typeTiltingFixed Tilting display
Display size3"2.7"Larger display (+0.3")
Display resolution610k230kClearer display (+380k dot)
Touch display Easily navigate

Reasons to pick Olympus Tough-3000 over the Olympus E-M5

 Tough-3000 E-M5 

Common features in the Olympus E-M5 and Olympus Tough-3000

 E-M5 Tough-3000 
Selfie screen Lacking selfie screen

Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus Tough-3000 Physical Comparison

For anybody who is aiming to carry around your camera often, you have to factor in its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-M5 provides external dimensions of 122mm x 89mm x 43mm (4.8" x 3.5" x 1.7") having a weight of 425 grams (0.94 lbs) whilst the Olympus Tough-3000 has measurements of 96mm x 65mm x 23mm (3.8" x 2.6" x 0.9") with a weight of 159 grams (0.35 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-M5 and Olympus Tough-3000 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool. Camera Size Comparison with Lenses

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are working with at the time. Following is a front view size comparison of the E-M5 versus the Tough-3000.

Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus Tough-3000 size comparison

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-M5 and Tough-3000 is 81 and 94 respectively.

Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus Tough-3000 top view buttons comparison

Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus Tough-3000 Sensor Comparison

More often than not, its difficult to visualize the contrast between sensor sizes purely by reading through technical specs. The pic underneath should give you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-M5 and Tough-3000.

As you can tell, the 2 cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-M5 having a larger sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Olympus E-M5 will resolve greater detail using its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will allow you to crop pics a good deal more aggressively. The more modern E-M5 should have a benefit when it comes to sensor tech.

Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus Tough-3000 sensor size comparison

Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus Tough-3000 Screen and ViewFinder

Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus Tough-3000 Screen and Viewfinder comparison
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Photography Type Scores

Portrait Comparison

Olympus E-M5 Portrait photography info
Olympus Tough-3000 Portrait photography info
71
focusing manually
good resolution (16 megapixels)
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
supports face detect focus
saves RAW formats
21
manual focus not available
no manual control
can't use external flash
megapixel count low (12MP)
very small sensor size (1/2.3")
lacks RAW files
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Street Comparison

Street photography with Olympus E-M5
Street photography with Olympus Tough-3000
82
screen tilts up and down
built in image stabilization (Sensor based 5-axis)
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
saves RAW formats
supports touch to focus
weather proof
very good high ISO (25,600)
62
image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
weather sealing
screen is fixed
very small sensor size (1/2.3")
lacks RAW files
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Sports Comparison

Olympus E-M5 Sports photography factors
Olympus Tough-3000 Sports photography factors
67
built in image stabilization (Sensor based 5-axis)
good resolution (16 megapixels)
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
supports tracking focus
weather proof
no phase detect auto focus
36
image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
has tracking autofocus
weather sealing
continuous shooting slow (1.0 frames per second)
no shutter priority
megapixel count low (12 megapixels)
very small sensor size (1/2.3")
lacks phase detect auto focus
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Travel Comparison

Olympus E-M5 as a Travel photography camera
Olympus Tough-3000 as a Travel photography camera
66
weather proof
supports touch to focus
good resolution (16 megapixels)
lack of Time Lapse mode
display is not selfie friendly
61
weather sealing
flash built-in
fairly wide (28mm)
does not have Time Lapse mode
megapixel count low (12MP)
display is not selfie friendly
sluggish maximum aperture (f3.5)
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Landscape Comparison

Olympus E-M5 as a Landscape photography camera
Olympus Tough-3000 as a Landscape photography camera
73
focusing manually
switch lenses (Micro Four Thirds mount)
good sized screen (3")
built in image stabilization (Sensor based 5-axis)
good resolution (16MP)
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
very good high ISO (25,600)
saves RAW formats
weather proof
lack of Time Lapse mode
35
fairly wide (28mm)
image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
weather sealing
manual focus not available
fixed lens (fixed lens mount)
sluggish maximum aperture (f3.5)
screen is small (2.7")
no manual control
megapixel count low (12 megapixels)
very small sensor size (1/2.3")
lacks RAW files
does not have Time Lapse mode
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Vlogging Comparison

Olympus E-M5 as a Vlogging camera
Olympus Tough-3000 as a Vlogging camera
34
touchscreen
built in image stabilization (Sensor based 5-axis)
supports face detect focus
high quality video (1920 x 1080 pixels)
display is not selfie friendly
lack of mic port
28
fairly wide (28mm)
image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
sluggish maximum aperture (f3.5)
display is not selfie friendly
low res video (1280 x 720 resolution)
does not have external mic jack
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Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus Tough-3000 Specifications

Detailed spec comparison table for Olympus E-M5 and Olympus Tough-3000
 Olympus OM-D E-M5Olympus Stylus Tough-3000
General Information
Manufacturer Olympus Olympus
Model type Olympus OM-D E-M5 Olympus Stylus Tough-3000
Also referred to as - mju Tough 3000
Class Advanced Mirrorless Waterproof
Released 2012-04-30 2010-01-07
Body design SLR-style mirrorless Compact
Sensor Information
Chip TruePic VI TruePic III
Sensor type CMOS CCD
Sensor size Four Thirds 1/2.3"
Sensor dimensions 17.3 x 13mm 6.08 x 4.56mm
Sensor area 224.9mm² 27.7mm²
Sensor resolution 16 megapixels 12 megapixels
Anti alias filter
Aspect ratio 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 4:3 and 16:9
Full resolution 4608 x 3456 3968 x 2976
Max native ISO 25600 1600
Lowest native ISO 200 64
RAW format
Lowest boosted ISO 100 -
Autofocusing
Manual focusing
Autofocus touch
Continuous autofocus
Autofocus single
Autofocus tracking
Autofocus selectice
Center weighted autofocus
Autofocus multi area
Live view autofocus
Face detect autofocus
Contract detect autofocus
Phase detect autofocus
Total focus points 35 -
Lens
Lens mount type Micro Four Thirds fixed lens
Lens zoom range - 28-102mm (3.6x)
Maximum aperture - f/3.5-5.1
Macro focusing distance - 2cm
Amount of lenses 107 -
Crop factor 2.1 5.9
Screen
Display type Tilting Fixed Type
Display size 3 inches 2.7 inches
Resolution of display 610 thousand dot 230 thousand dot
Selfie friendly
Liveview
Touch function
Display technology Touch control in electrostatic capacitance type OLED monitor -
Viewfinder Information
Viewfinder type Electronic None
Viewfinder resolution 1,440 thousand dot -
Viewfinder coverage 100% -
Viewfinder magnification 0.58x -
Features
Lowest shutter speed 60s 4s
Highest shutter speed 1/4000s 1/2000s
Continuous shooting speed 9.0 frames/s 1.0 frames/s
Shutter priority
Aperture priority
Manual exposure
Exposure compensation Yes -
Set white balance
Image stabilization
Built-in flash
Flash distance no built-in flash 4.00 m
Flash options Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Fill-in, Slow Sync (2), Manual (3 levels) Auto, On, Off, Red-eye, Fill-in
Hot shoe
AEB
WB bracketing
Highest flash sync 1/250s -
Exposure
Multisegment metering
Average metering
Spot metering
Partial metering
AF area metering
Center weighted metering
Video features
Supported video resolutions 1920 x 1080 (60 fps), 1280 x 720 (60, 30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps) 1280 x 720 (30 fps) 640 x 480 (30, 15 fps), 320 x 240 (30, 15 fps)
Max video resolution 1920x1080 1280x720
Video file format H.264, Motion JPEG MPEG-4
Mic input
Headphone input
Connectivity
Wireless Eye-Fi Connected None
Bluetooth
NFC
HDMI
USB USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
GPS None None
Physical
Environment seal
Water proofing
Dust proofing
Shock proofing
Crush proofing
Freeze proofing
Weight 425 gr (0.94 lb) 159 gr (0.35 lb)
Physical dimensions 122 x 89 x 43mm (4.8" x 3.5" x 1.7") 96 x 65 x 23mm (3.8" x 2.6" x 0.9")
DXO scores
DXO All around rating 71 not tested
DXO Color Depth rating 22.8 not tested
DXO Dynamic range rating 12.3 not tested
DXO Low light rating 826 not tested
Other
Battery life 360 photos -
Style of battery Battery Pack -
Battery ID BLN-1 -
Self timer Yes (2 or 12 sec) Yes (2 or 12 seconds)
Time lapse recording
Storage media SD/SDHC/SDXC SD/SDHC, Internal
Storage slots 1 1
Price at launch $799 $0