Olympus OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 a Visual Comparison

When comparing the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 to the E-M5, a few features are noticeable immediately without even turning on the camera.

Built In Grip. The E-M1 comes with a new grip that makes the camera more comfortable to hold and shoot.
Size. The Olympus OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 are very similar in size with the exception of the new grip that increases the thickness of the camera.
More Buttons. The OM-D E-M1 comes with a host of buttons that make it easy to access frequently used functions of the camera. Most of these buttons can also be customized in the Gear menu.

In this blog, I thought it would be fun to look at the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 side by side and review the new functions of the camera. Click on the photos and a larger version of the picture will display in a new browser window.

Top View

The Shooting Mode Dial has moved to the right side of the camera giving easy access to all three dials with your right hand. The Mode Dial now has a lock button that you push down to avoid accidentally changing the shooting mode.
Sequential Shooting / Self Timer / HDR Button gives you quick access to change the shooting mode, self timer, and setting the HDR mode.
Autofocus / Metering Mode Button allows you to quickly change the metering mode and autofocus / manual focus modes.

Front View

New Depth of Field Preview button stops down the aperture to preview the depth of field
One-touch white balance button lets you manually set the white-balance using a gray card or other neutral colored object.

Back View

The Dial Toggle Lever changes the function of the front and rear dials based on the lever setting. For example: In Aperture Priority Mode, the front dial changes the exposure compensation and the rear dial changes the aperture when the lever is set at 1. When the lever is set at 2, the front dial changes the ISO while the rear dial changes the white balance.
The Live View button toggles between viewfinder and live view shooting modes. It also provides quick access to the Super Control Panel.

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