Olympus XZ-1 vs Panasonic GM5

Lets look a little more in depth at the Olympus XZ-1 versus Panasonic GM5, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. There is a sizable difference among the resolutions of the XZ-1 (10MP) and GM5 (16MP) and the XZ-1 (1/1.63") and GM5 (Four Thirds) offer totally different sensor measurements.

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The XZ-1 was launched 4 years prior to the GM5 and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus XZ-1 being a Compact camera and the Panasonic GM5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going straight to a detailed comparison, here is a quick summation of how the XZ-1 grades vs the GM5 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus XZ-1 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM5. The complete galleries are available at Olympus XZ-1 Gallery & Panasonic GM5 Gallery.

For anyone who is intending to carry your camera frequently, you are going to need to think about its weight and volume. The Olympus XZ-1 enjoys exterior measurements of 111mm x 65mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.7") with a weight of 275 grams (0.61 lbs) and the Panasonic GM5 has sizing of 99mm x 60mm x 36mm (3.9" x 2.4" x 1.4") with a weight of 211 grams (0.47 lbs).

Compare the Olympus XZ-1 versus Panasonic GM5 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you choose at the time. The following is a front view size comparison of the XZ-1 and the GM5.

Using size and weight, the portability score of the XZ-1 and GM5 is 88 and 91 respectively.

Usually, it is hard to see the gap in sensor sizing purely by looking through technical specs. The visual underneath will give you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the XZ-1 and GM5.

As you can tell, both of those cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The XZ-1 due to its smaller sensor will make shooting shallow depth of field harder and the Panasonic GM5 will render more detail utilizing its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop photos a good deal more aggressively. The older XZ-1 will be disadvantaged in sensor tech.