Need Advice. X-E1 or OMD EM5 as FIRST SERIOUS CAMERA to learn Photography?

JimLong wrote:

A lot of people have responed that neither camera will help male you a better photographer and I agree with that (although I don't think it's necessary to be condesending about it). The truth is, both cameras have full manual capability, the difference is where they put the knobs that you turn. Fuji has done a very nice job of building a camera that looks like you are turning dials with some mechanical connection to the function being changed, but it is all done electrically, just like on the olympus. The point I'm trying to make is that it is up to you to develop the discipline to understand what the controls are doing and learn to use them. Yes, there is no mode dial on the Fuji, but you can set the aperture to automatic, the shutter speed to automatic, the iso to automatic and fire away.

I went through the same selection process as you. I tried both the Fuji and the Olympus and I ended upmwith the Fuji. My decision was based on my evaluation of image quality. The olympus did focus faster and was generally a little more responsive, but I did not feel that, for me, that outweighed the image quality of the Fuji. On the other hand, I would not quarrel with anyone who came to the opposite conclusion. The cameras are that close.

I hope you can afford yourself the opportunity to try both cameras for yourself, because that's the only way you will know for sure. Either camera will serve you well and both are capable of full manual operation. How you use either one is up to you.