E-PM2 vs. GM1

[drd1135]

Evaluated purely as a stills photography body, what are the advantages of the GM1 over the E-PM2? I'd especially like to hear from anyone who has owned both. Thanks.

 

[nstelemark]

I haven't had either but the one thing that has kept me from buying the gm1 as a replacement for my e-pm1 is the lack of plugable evf. The vf4 had made the e-pm1 a joy to use.

 

[Theo]

Larry,

Would you please post a picture of a VF-4 on E-PM1. I'm thinking about buying a VF-4 or VF-3 for my E-PM2. I wonder if a VF-4 will look out of place or too big.

 

[nstelemark]

Larry,

Would you please post a picture of a VF-4 on E-PM1. I'm thinking about buying a VF-4 or VF-3 for my E-PM2. I wonder if a VF-4 will look out of place or too big.

Sure:

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[broody]

Evaluated purely as a stills photography body, what are the advantages of the GM1 over the E-PM2? I'd especially like to hear from anyone who has owned both. Thanks.

I haven't owned the EPM-2, but I routinely use the EPL5 which I bought as a gift for my mom. I got the GM1 for myself.

For me, the big advantage of the GM1 is how silent it is (regardless of whether you're using the e-shutter or not). The EPL5 has a discreet but very audible (and I might add, pretty sexy) snapping sound when you take a picture. The GM1 is almost noiseless. Also, it goes to T/16,000 for shooting in broad light and suffers no shutter shock. With the Oly bodies before the EP5, you have to be careful to avoid that.

Oh, and the main reason I bought it was because of the fantastic kit lens. It's a step up from my 14mm prime, with more contrast, wider angle an and OIS.

But you do get the hotshoe, a somewhat better grip, IBIS, longer battery life, and these days also a killer price for the EPM2. I thought I would care about the Wifi but I don't use it at all.

 

[nstelemark]

BTW you can use the matching simulator for viewfinders as well.

http://www.four-thirds.org/en/special/matching.html

 

[Engawa]

I have an e-pm2 and gm1.

I like the GM1 a lot better. I bought it because I also wanted to 12-32mm lens.

The near mechanical silent shutter is wonderful. I don't use silent mode since the mechanical shutter is so quite already. I don't shoot faster than 1/500 indoors, but I've gotten banding under fluorescent indoors when I forgot to adjust my ISO.

The LCD is much nicer and I feel the screen is more sensitive to touch. I think the LCD is much nicer under bright light as well but I haven't compared them side by side.

The GM1 also focuses much faster with the 20mm, which is my preferred lens on the GM1.

I've only used the wifi function a few times as a remote release.

Unfortunately the GM1 doesn't have the option to use auto ISO in manual mode or the ability to set a minimum shutter speed.

I didn't find IBIS very useful in the e-pm2 so I didn't miss it with the GM1.

 

[Engawa]

Larry,

Would you please post a picture of a VF-4 on E-PM1. I'm thinking about buying a VF-4 or VF-3 for my E-PM2. I wonder if a VF-4 will look out of place or too big.

I'm not sure if the VF-4 would be too big on the E-PM2 for you, but I found the tilting ability extremely useful on my E-PM2 because it lacks a flip screen.

 

[MarkRyan]

As small as the EPM2 is, the GM1 is surprisingly smaller. Wifi functions are pretty great, too, and if you do a lot of video the GM1 has much better video recording options. And as others have said, the GM1 is essentially silent, even with the mechanical shutter. Both a positive and a negative, if you like a shutter sound. (GM1 lets you use a fake shutter sound, which sounds pretty gross.)

IQ-wise, there's not much between them. I tend to prefer Olympus colors, but both sensors are modern.

 

[ntblowz]

I had E-PM2 before I got the GM1, having used it for a month I pretty much agree to what was said on this thread.

Silent shutter is the killer for taking snaps without totally getting noticed, though mechanic shutter is pretty quiet too.

The AF is much more solid on GM1 than E-PM2, especially with 20mm pancake, it is just dog slow on Olympus bodies.

Though IBIS definitely helps with slower shutter speed, and the battery life on E-PM2 is much better than GM1.

Another reason for changing to GM1 is wifi, sharing on instangram/fb is much faster lol