E-M5 vs E-M10 Mark II

Helen wrote:

emossg wrote:

From price point, you can't really compare these. Used E-M5 is dirty cheap as E-M10 Mark II is new and cannot be found used yet. E-M10 Mark II costs twice as much.

The E-M10 is $549 through Monday; now, that's dirt cheap for a camera that has the latest technology/features at the sacrifice of a weathersealed body (the E-M5's one remaining plus).

I would like to get more into macro photography.

Focus bracketing in the E-M10 II will aid in this.

I shoot a a lot inside in low light, so image-stabilization is quite important for me.

Assuming you're talking about the original E-M5, the Olympus range has evolved quite a lot (sometimes beneath the surface) since then.

Both E-M10 models ARE noticeably smaller and lighter in the hand than the E-M5 models.

Not an advantage, IMHOP. There's small, and there's too small. I prefer the taller grip and more solid feel of the E-M5.

Regarding feel, the E-M5 was often criticised for its button feel - the weatherproofing makes most of them "spongy" with no obvious click in their travel. This is not the case on the E-M10 II.

I've never noticed this as in any way an issue in 3 years of use, overblown IMOP. Instead, it's simply a comfort knowing that should any water get on my camera, it will not fry the electronics; great insurance.

Many people (myself included) find the main dials of the Mark II models (which are taller, lighter-clicked and slightly altered in lateral position relative to each other) a big improvement. Some will prefer the older layout, nevertheless.

Latter (i.e., in the E-M5), likely a victim of being used to it .

The E-M10 II has a much higher resolution LCD monitor, versus the OLED of the E-M5.

I've compared my E-M5's screen to that of a friends E-M10, and much prefer the brighter and better color in the OLED.

The E-M10 II has a lot of new features through being more recent; here are those I can remember(!):

It has 0-second Anti Shock (electronic first curtain shutter - EFCS) operation as an option - this is absent from the E-M5. The E-M5 is sometimes (but not often) affected by shutter shock but has no EFCS option.

For an E-M5 user, I'd posit this is the singular greatest improvement offered by the E-M10 series.

It does however have a slightly softer-sounding shutter.

Yes, I still find myself noticing and enjoying it in my E-M5, a lovely soft sound of quality.

The E-M10 II also has the option of silent shooting (fully electronic shutter) which can be very useful in certain situations (this increases the top shutter speed available to 1/16,000). It has certain limitations - not usable with flash (except in focus bracketing), can show horizontal banding at certain shutter speeds under certain types of lighting, can skew very fast moving subjects.

See E-M5's already quiet shutter above, never an issue in a public space. And 1/16,000 sounds great, but it's not good for action - a head scratcher there.

The E-M10 II's EVF is higher resolution but is OLED, which can be too contrasty for some and can draw attention to slight variations in its brightness. It has the option of automatic brightness adjustment (absent on the E-M5) and S-OVF mode which makes it much less contrasty (again, no such option on the E-M5, though arguably it doesn't need it). I do find the E-M10 II's EVF optics feel slightly more "tunnel like" for some reason, though it's still a good unit. The eyecup is less prone to coming off accidentally than on the E-M5.

Hadn't heard of the "tunnel view" in the E-M10 II's EVF, good to know. In any case, the change in magnification is so small as to be almost meaningless, IMOP.

The E-M10 II's proximity detector for the EVF seems a tad over-sensitive (a sin shared with the E-M5 II but none of the others). However, it is helpfully disabled with the screen tilted - not so on the original E-M5, so you could get the screen blanking as you touched it with that one.

Never had an issue here.

You can assign MySets to unused positions on the mode dial on the E-M10 II if you wish. You cannot on the E-M5.

A nice feature, for sure.

There are more Art Filters on the latest models, and you can do in-camera HDR shooting too with auto-alignment on the newer OM-D models like the E-M10 II; similarly, it offers keystone correction.

HDR, another nice feature I'd use as well.

You can use your thumb to move the AF point whilst looking through the EVF on the E-M10 II if required. Not possible on any other OM-D.

I believe this is now available on the E-M1 and E-M5 II via FW updates.

I agree with Helen (excellent list, BTW), the E-M10 II is blessed with many new features, Olympus being exceptional at bringing these to lower tier models as soon as the technology is developed. This was in evidence in this week's major firmware update to the flagship E-M1, which largely simply catches it up with the E-M10 II.

If I was new to the market and had no other O-MD's, the E-M10 II is a great bargain and I'd definitely buy one if in the market for an entry level O-MD.

Now, to play a bit of the devil's advocate as a member of the RLSE-M5L (Royal Legion of Steadfast E-M5 Lovers ):

As a long time E-M5 owner who shoots landscape and wildlife stills, I just went thru this Black Friday comparing all the various features between the E-M5, E-M10 II and E-M1 and decided to stand pat until a new sensor arrives. Even $500 is a fair sum of money when IQ will remain completely unchanged. And, nice as they assuredly are, none of the new features represent a revolutionary change that will improve my photographs.

My weathersealed E-M5 still works perfectly (what a rugged and beautiful little camera!), handles better than the new generation (taller grip), has an excellent EVF and screen, the same excellent 16MP sensor, same 4-stop IBIS, shoots at a faster fps, etc. Video sucks, but as a stills shooter, no worries there.

As for the dreaded shutter shock rearing it's head, still happens at times even though I try to remain diligent about staying out of its ISO danger zone.

Other than this blemish, I've concluded that sometimes a camera maker can build a camera that's simply too good ! Olympus should be proud, the E-M5 also being the little camera that saved their imaging group from going over the cliff in the dark days of the scandal.

I'm sure there are E-M5 users still out there that feel the same.