Olympus E-M5 vs Panasonic ZS45

Lets look a little more in depth at the Olympus E-M5 vs Panasonic ZS45, former is a Advanced Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Panasonic. The image resolution of the E-M5 (16MP) and the ZS45 (16MP) is fairly close but the E-M5 (Four Thirds) and ZS45 (1/2.3") use totally different sensor measurements.

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The E-M5 was launched 3 years before the ZS45 which is a fairly serious difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-M5 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic ZS45 being a Compact camera.

Before diving through a comprehensive comparison, below is a concise summary of how the E-M5 scores vs the ZS45 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS45. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus E-M5 Gallery & Panasonic ZS45 Gallery.

In case you're planning to carry around your camera frequently, you will need to consider its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-M5 has outer dimensions of 122mm x 89mm x 43mm (4.8" x 3.5" x 1.7") along with a weight of 425 grams (0.94 lbs) whilst the Panasonic ZS45 has proportions of 108mm x 60mm x 32mm (4.3" x 2.4" x 1.3") with a weight of 249 grams (0.55 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-M5 vs Panasonic ZS45 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are working with at the time. Following is the front view overall size comparison of the E-M5 against the ZS45.

Looking at size and weight, the portability rating of the E-M5 and ZS45 is 81 and 91 respectively.

Oftentimes, it can be difficult to visualise the gap in sensor sizes simply by looking through specs. The pic underneath might provide you a clearer sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-M5 and ZS45.

As you can plainly see, the 2 cameras offer the same exact resolution but not the same sensor sizes. The E-M5 features the larger sensor which will make obtaining shallower depth of field easier. The more aged E-M5 will be disadvantaged in sensor tech.