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

Of course, asking the question on the Fuji forum will leave you with comments favoring the X-E1, while asking there will result in the opposite advice.

Those two cameras are designed around diametrically different concepts :

The Fuji is stripped down to the essential : you find yourself with a camera mimicking the controls of an old range finder film camera : you will have to learn about the famous exposure trilogy (aperture, shutterspeed and ISO) and to learn when to use higher speeds and larger apertures or small apertures and lower speeds. Learn how you combine these three parameters to : freeze action or get motion blurr, get thin DOF to isolate the subject from the background, or get everything in focus from foreground to background in a landscape picture. But in fact this is the easiest part of photography. The toughest part is composition and seeing the light, aka how it will fall on your subject and how the camera will render it , which you can only learn through practice.

The E-M5, although having a retro look, is a very contemporary camera, packed with a lot of customizable features. It is somewhat more difficult to set up, because it offers so many customizable parameters. So you will have to spend some time to set it up at first. But once this is done (there are good ressources on the web on how to set it up and there is even a book to help you), the E-M5 is easy to use too. Further, it can use the same three basic shooting modes as the Fuji : aperture priority, shutter priority and manual modes. Indeed, this is what I'm using too, so this isn't a reason to choose the one over the other.

For me the X-E1 has three draw backs : the special sensor smears colors and no raw converter is able to do it justice. The C1 Pro converter was much expected, but from what DReview states it is improved, but didn't solve the problem entirely. The second drawback is the lack of reactivity. Depending on what you shoot it will limit you. The last drawback is the lens system : not yet as complete as that of MFT. The E-M5 has so many advantages that it would be too long to list them 

You can read more concerning the advantages and disadvantages of both cameras at the website of Thom Hogan. He is a Nikon specialist, who has written many Nikon books and recently launched SansMirror.com a website dedicated to all mirrorless cameras. He has reviewed both the E-X1 and the E-M5 and has awarded the E-M5 the title of "Best serious mirrorless camera of 2012 " : follow the links to learn why he thinks the E-M5 is the better camera. He is probably a more impartial photographer than the Fuji or MFT forum members. He recently created a storm among Nikon users, when he publicly stated that he has replaced his D7000 (APSC sensor) with an E-M5. He is still using a FF Nikon of course, but now uses the E-M5 for travel and hiking photography instead of the D7000 : aka whenever he needs to go light. Reading his rationale for choosing may help you weighting what features are important for you.

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