Olympus OM-D-E-M1 II vs OM-D-E-M10 II: I own an Olympus OM-D M10 II and have been wondering what difference I would see in the quality of the images I take with it if instead I used an...

captainkauai

I own an Olympus OM-D M10 II and have been wondering what difference I would see in the quality of the images I take with it if instead I used an OM-D M1 II. This would assume I used the same lens for either camera, say for discussion sake the Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150. I am an average amateur photographer.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

"Average" covers a lot, and purchasing new equipment will not make you a better photographer. I could only find one photo of yours on UHH (January 2017 sunset). I wouldn't have expected that much noise - apparent noise I should say, because maybe that's not what is - so I'm wondering if the image was significantly underexposed and you tried to lighten too much when editing?

Here is one of many sites that compares the two cameras:
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/olympus-om-d-e-m10-mark-ii-vs-olympus-om-d-e-m10-28012

The first two photos below were shot in jpg and have slight editing, using the EM10 and Olympus M.Zuiko Digital Ed 75-300mm lens. I was trying out the 2x digital zoom function, making these equivalent 600 mm angle of view (I think#2 is slightly cropped, as well).

Mostly I shoot in raw (see #3 below) and edit, though I'm only average with PS Elements. I have found that the EM 10 does not enjoy high ISO combined with low light, but for the majority of my photography, I have been extremely happy with the 10, which I purchased slightly used a bit over a year ago.

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This started as a raw file. ISO 1600

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wildweasel

Fantastic photos, I have the EM1 Mark ll and I can tell you that it does not enjoy high ISO in low light either. I have shot it at 6400 iso with acceptable results but nothing spectacular. Here is a test shot with no processing at 6400 iso.

Gort55 Loc: Northern Colorado

captainkauai wrote:

I own an Olympus OM-D M10 II and have been wondering what difference I would see in the quality of the images I take with it if instead I used an OM-D M1 II. This would assume I used the same lens for either camera, say for discussion sake the Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150. I am an average amateur photographer.

I own both cameras — only Mark I versions. I dont see any difference in image quality. the EM 1 has more buttons and a better grip. It is easier to change settings on the EM1.

bw79st Loc: New York City

captainkauai wrote:

I own an Olympus OM-D M10 II and have been wondering what difference I would see in the quality of the images I take with it if instead I used an OM-D M1 II. This would assume I used the same lens for either camera, say for discussion sake the Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150. I am an average amateur photographer.

I have never used a E-M10 II but I have owned an E-M5 and an E-M1. My E-M1 II is superior to both of them. What jumped out at me right away was the ease with which it autofocuses. I generally use the 14-150mm lens and find it a very good match with the Mark II. Bear in mind that I rarely ever find myself in low light situations so I can't really compare cameras in that regard.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I shoot regularly with the EM-10 Mk II. I have no experience with the EM-1 Mk II that has a similar sensor but with some extra megapixels.
Using the same lens, from what I know, I do not believe you are going to see a difference in quality.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

A correction: the M4/3 cameras already have a 2x crop factor, meaning you would double the focal length to get equivalent angle of view of a full frame sensor. The first two photos I posted in this thread, using the 2x digital zoom, available with jpg, means the equivalent was 1200 mm on #2 and nearly that on #1. This information may be more important to some folks than others

EdU239 Loc: The Northeast

captainkauai wrote:

I own an Olympus OM-D M10 II and have been wondering what difference I would see in the quality of the images I take with it if instead I used an OM-D M1 II. This would assume I used the same lens for either camera, say for discussion sake the Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150. I am an average amateur photographer.

I use an M10 II for travel and like it a lot. The OM-D M1 II Has a newer 24 MP sensor compared with the 16 MP sensor on the M10. You can probably find comparison photos for both online. The 24 MP sensor has more potential, but I imagine you’d need to upgrade to an Olympus Pro lens to take advantage of it.

rcarol

EdU239 wrote:

I use an M10 II for travel and like it a lot. The OM-D M1 II Has a newer 24 MP sensor compared with the 16 MP sensor on the M10. You can probably find comparison photos for both online. The 24 MP sensor has more potential, but I imagine you’d need to upgrade to an Olympus Pro lens to take advantage of it.

The OM-D E-M1 has 20 MP sensor, not 24 MP.

EdU239 Loc: The Northeast

rcarol wrote:

The OM-D E-M1 has 20 MP sensor, not 24 MP.

Thanks for the correction. I was going from memory and should have checked.

rcarol

EdU239 wrote:

Thanks for the correction. I was going from memory and should have checked.

Maybe someday it will have 24 MP. But one of the things the E-M1 has that few other cameras have is a high-resolution mode which produces an image of about 60 MP as I recall.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

rcarol wrote:

Maybe someday it will have 24 MP. But one of the things the E-M1 has that few other cameras have is a high-resolution mode which produces an image of about 60 MP as I recall.

80MP raw file or 50MP Jpeg. It is a bit weird that you guys don’t know the specks of your cameras.

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

Another difference, and correct me if I am wrong, is that the M1 has phase detect AF and the M10/M5 do not (only contrast detect which is slower, not too good in low light) unless they are/will be introduced in the mkiii versions?

moonhawk Loc: Land of Enchantment

E-M1 is weather sealed, M-10 is not. That may or may not matter to you. I believe the E-M5 is also weather sealed, but i don't own one and am not sure. The m-1 is built to take a lot of abuse, something I take advantage of.

rcarol

tdekany wrote:

80MP raw file or 50MP Jpeg. It is a bit weird that you guys don’t know the specks of your cameras.

I kind of think that it's weird that you presume I own this camera.