Thread: X-E1 vs E-M5

I picked up the X-E1 with 35mm lens 5 days ago and I've been shooting with it every day since. I've had an E-M5 since April, along with some lenses. I thought some people might like a comparison of the two. I have been shooting for about 30 years with a multitude of equipment, besides these two cameras I have a couple of Canon DSLRs and a handful of lenses.

First off I like BOTH the E-M5 and X-E1, I have no intention in bashing one or the other. Any negative points I might bring up are just my opinion.

The X-E1: It is light. It is the right size, all the controls are where they should be and easy to read and use. The 35mm lens impressed me in external build quality. The software menus are easy to navigate. The small grip on the front along with the slight bump out on the back right side make the camera easy to hold securely.

Image quality from this lens and sensor are extremely impressive. That is the number 1 thing about this camera, it produces great photos.

I set the shutter speed to auto and set the f-stop as I wanted. I found auto ISO limited at 6400 worked just fine out and about in the city at night. I didn't go above 6400 because I have no need to. I did dial up/down the EV Comp in situations I felt the camera meter might not go the way I wanted...no different from any other camera. From off to on and ready to shoot is quick. Manual focus is easy as well, for a focus-by-wire setup it isn't bad at all. I had no issue with the EVF or LCD, auto switching worked like a charm. I used a SanDisk Ultra 30Mb/s 16GB card and didn't have any issue with write speeds or buffer issues.

There are some areas where this camera does not shine. In dark situations it seeks to focus and might not catch at all, depending on the situation. Video is jumpy. The SD card is a little hard to get out (it is next to the battery under the camera). The camera has no built in IS, the LCD does not articulate. The camera is not weather sealed.

Bottom line on the E-X1 is this: the camera is easy to use, nice size and weight, all the right dials at the right places and it produces extremely good images. Other features (some) people expect on modern cameras are either missing or poorly function.


The E-M5: When you pick it up, the weight and the feel of the metal scream quality camera. It is small...tiny even, but has weight.

Setup is a bit more complex but reading the manual is all you really need to set it up. It has all the dials and buttons required (and you can configure them how you like). The camera has a small sensor but gives big results. And this thing is FAST. Fast to power up, fast to focus and fast to save. Oh and 9 FPS if you are into that sort of thing. You can pretty much adapt any lens out there to work with this camera, and there are a whole lot of native lenses to choose from as well. ISO is clean enough up to 6400 but.....

....IBIS is so magical you will find you keep the ISOs down and the shutter speed MUCH slower than you would ever try on any other camera. And video? With non-legacy glass it is almost like having a steady-cam.

The camera isn't perfect. The size is almost too small. Besides being a bit difficult to handle (you need to re-learn how to hold the camera), the buttons and dials seem cramped and it is either too easy to hit the wrong thing or too difficult to hit the thing you want. The optional grip or leather wrap helps out a bit with the physical size. The UWA 7-14 from Panasonic has an internal flare issue that produces results you won't see on other UWAs (like the Canon 16-35 II L that I have for my 5DII).

Bottom line: Tiny camera jam packed with all the features you can imagine, with specs that kick butt. 9 FPS and 5 axis IS? Sounds big and expensive to me but the E-M5 is neither. A lot of glass options as well but a few have some issues.



The X-E1....that sensor spits out images that are shockingly good, great even. If you want higher quality images and don't care about added bells and whistles, this is the camera for you.
The E-M5...reminds me of that little gun on MIB 1, tiny, well made...cute even and packs one serious punch. This camera can do anything and do it fast. If you want an all a rounder with lots of lens choices, the E-M5 will make you happy.

Thanks for starting this thread.
Do you personally prefer Fuji?
Has Fuji OIS aboard?

Thanks for the comparison. It is largely along the lines of what I thought might be the case, and it is good to have confirmation of that. For my usage I couldn't see something like the X-E1 replacing an E-M5, but they do look like a great pair of cameras to shoot with together or alternate between.

Originally Posted by Herman

Thanks for starting this thread.
Do you personally prefer Fuji?
Has Fuji OIS aboard?

The Fuji does not have any OIS on-board. The new Fuji zoom lens does have OIS. I expect it will preform like most of the other image stabilization offerings out there: it will do a pretty good job and give you 1-2 stops of speed. IBIS outperforms any other OIS I have ever used by a great margin, but it does bring into question how do you clean the sensor.

Hi
Thanks for the comparison.

What about the EVF of the Fuji?
Is it laggy or is the some latency recognizable?

THANKS

Originally Posted by grusch.info

Hi
Thanks for the comparison.

What about the EVF of the Fuji?
Is it laggy or is the some latency recognizable?

THANKS

Not that I have noticed, but I have read that opinion from various sources. It must be how/where I shoot that is causing me to not notice it.

Originally Posted by tdp

Not that I have noticed, but I have read that opinion from various sources. It must be how/where I shoot that is causing me to not notice it.

Because the xpro1 evf is very laggy if you Pan around

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Originally Posted by grusch.info

Because the xpro1 evf is very laggy if you Pan around

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Um....from my non scientific test just now, sitting on the couch and panning left to right and back and forth it seems fine to me. Oh an now my pets are looking at me funny.

Originally Posted by tdp

The E-M5...reminds me of that little gun on MIB 1, tiny, well made...cute even and packs one serious punch. This camera can do anything and do it fast. If you want an all a rounder with lots of lens choices, the E-M5 will make you happy.

Awesome analogy lol

Originally Posted by tdp

Um....from my non scientific test just now, sitting on the couch and panning left to right and back and forth it seems fine to me. Oh an now my pets are looking at me funny.

How does the EVF display look when static? Does the 2+ million dots make a difference? Does it provide a good representation of exposure and colour?