The best Olympus cameras
Olympus used to be one of the main manufacturers of manual focus cameras and lenses for film photography, and the company entered the digital camera market as the main sponsor of the Four Thirds standard, which provided an imaging system custom-designed for digital. Since then, Olympus has developed a comprehensive range of models, both interchangeable lens cameras and compact digicams that come with a built-in lens. It also uses a variety of imaging sensors in its models, ranging from Four Thirds to small 1/2.3-inch sensors.
The choice of a particular type of camera depends very much on the intended use. A professional wedding photographer has different requirements than a casual family holiday shooter, and a sports reporter has different needs than a landscape artist. The importance of individual preferences and selection criteria means that the question which camera is best is not easy to answer. That said, general camera rankings can give a useful overview of the overall capabilities of various camera models and thereby provide the basis for more use-specific model comparisons and assessments.
The highest rated Olympus cameras
The Camera Elo represents a comprehensive rating that takes the body, sensor and feature characteristics of digital cameras into account. It is based on the outcomes of thousands of pair-wise comparisons undertaken via the CAM-parator app.
The Olympus E-M1 III is currently the top-ranked Olympus camera with a Camera Elo of 2745, followed in second place by the Olympus E-M1X with a rating of 2723. The table below lists the 20 highest ranked Olympus cameras in descending order of their Elo. It also reports the cameras' DXO Mark sensor quality score, which can be taken as indicators of pure image quality. For both the Camera Elo and the DXO score, higher values represent better performance.
| Camera Model |
Lens Type |
Camera Elo |
DXO Score |
Camera Type |
Resolution (MP) |
Video Format |
Camera Launch | Launch Price | Street Price |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Olympus E-M1 III | Micro FT | 2745 | 76 | Mirrorless | 20.2 | 4K/30p | Feb 2020 | US$ 1 799 | ebay.com | |
| 2. | Olympus E-M1X | Micro FT | 2723 | 75 | Mirrorless | 20.2 | 4K/30p | Jan 2019 | US$ 2 999 | ebay.com | |
| 3. | Olympus E-M5 III | Micro FT | 2607 | 76 | Mirrorless | 20.2 | 4K/30p | Oct 2019 | US$ 1 199 | ebay.com | |
| 4. | Olympus E-M10 IV | Micro FT | 2568 | 76 | Mirrorless | 20.2 | 4K/30p | Aug 2020 | US$ 699 | amazon.com | |
| 5. | Olympus E-P7 | Micro FT | 2505 | 77 | Mirrorless | 20.2 | 4K/30p | Jun 2021 | US$ 799 | amazon.com | |
| 6. | Olympus E-PL10 | Micro FT | 2485 | 76 | Mirrorless | 15.9 | 4K/30p | Oct 2019 | US$ 599 | ebay.com | |
| 7. | Olympus E-M1 II | Micro FT | 2478 | 80 | Mirrorless | 20.2 | 4K/30p | Sep 2016 | US$ 1 999 | ebay.com | |
| 8. | Olympus E-PL9 | Micro FT | 2343 | 74 | Mirrorless | 15.9 | 4K/30p | Feb 2018 | US$ 599 | ebay.com | |
| 9. | Olympus E-M10 III | Micro FT | 2302 | 74 | Mirrorless | 15.9 | 4K/30p | Aug 2017 | US$ 649 | ebay.com | |
| 10. | Olympus E-M5 II | Micro FT | 2181 | 73 | Mirrorless | 15.9 | 1080/60p | Feb 2015 | US$ 1 099 | ebay.com | |
| 11. | Olympus TG-6 | 25-100 mm f/2.0-4.9 | 2175 | 52 | Compact | 12.0 | 4K/30p | May 2019 | US$ 449 | ebay.com | |
| 12. | Olympus PEN-F | Micro FT | 2170 | 74 | Mirrorless | 20.2 | 1080/60p | Jan 2016 | US$ 1 199 | ebay.com | |
| 13. | Olympus E-PL8 | Micro FT | 2120 | 73 | Mirrorless | 15.9 | 1080/30p | Sep 2016 | US$ 549 | ebay.com | |
| 14. | Olympus E-M10 II | Micro FT | 2066 | 73 | Mirrorless | 15.9 | 1080/60p | Aug 2015 | US$ 649 | ebay.com | |
| 15. | Olympus TG-5 | 25-100 mm f/2.0-4.9 | 2007 | 50 | Compact | 12.0 | 4K/30p | May 2017 | US$ 449 | ebay.com | |
| 16. | Olympus E-M1 | Micro FT | 1969 | 73 | Mirrorless | 15.9 | 1080/30p | Sep 2013 | US$ 1 399 | ebay.com | |
| 17. | Olympus E-PL7 | Micro FT | 1915 | 72 | Mirrorless | 15.9 | 1080/30p | Aug 2014 | US$ 599 | ebay.com | |
| 18. | Olympus E-M10 | Micro FT | 1869 | 72 | Mirrorless | 15.9 | 1080/30p | Jan 2014 | US$ 699 | ebay.com | |
| 19. | Olympus Stylus 1s | 28-300 mm f/2.8-2.8 | 1828 | 47 | Compact | 11.8 | 1080/30p | Apr 2015 | US$ 699 | ebay.com | |
| 20. | Olympus E-P5 | Micro FT | 1826 | 72 | Mirrorless | 15.9 | 1080/30p | May 2013 | US$ 999 | ebay.com | |
| Note: DXO values in italics represent estimates based on sensor size and age. | |||||||||||
You can access more detail on the listed cameras by clicking on the camera's name. Alternatively, you can compare two Olympus cameras using the search boxes below. Just enter two model names into the input fields and you will promptly be taken to a respective comparison.
Further Reading
Additional information on the calculation of the Camera Elo can be found on a respective Elo methodology page. Moreover, there are other rankings of cameras by category that might be of interest:
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