Olympus OM-5 vs. Panasonic Lumix DC-G9

Comparison

change cameras »
OM-5 image
vs
Lumix DC-G9 image
Olympus OM-5 Panasonic Lumix DC-G9
check price » check price »
Megapixels
20.40
20.33
Max. image resolution
5184 x 3888
5184 x 3888

Sensor

Sensor type
CMOS
CMOS
Sensor size
Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm)
Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm)
Sensor resolution
5208 x 3916
5200 x 3910
Diagonal
21.64 mm
21.64 mm
Sensor size comparison
Sensor size is generally a good indicator of the quality of the camera. Sensors can vary greatly in size. As a general rule, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.

Bigger sensors are more effective because they have more surface area to capture light. An important factor when comparing digital cameras is also camera generation. Generally, newer sensors will outperform the older.

Learn more about sensor sizes »

Actual sensor size

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »
vs
1 : 1
(ratio)
Olympus OM-5 Panasonic Lumix DC-G9
Surface area:
224.90 mm² vs 224.90 mm²
Difference: 0 mm² (0%)
OM-5 and Lumix DC-G9 sensors are the same size.
Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 5 year gap between Olympus OM-5 (2022) and Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 (2017). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.
Pixel pitch
3.32 µm
3.33 µm
Pixel pitch tells you the distance from the center of one pixel (photosite) to the center of the next. It tells you how close the pixels are to each other.

The bigger the pixel pitch, the further apart they are and the bigger each pixel is. Bigger pixels tend to have better signal to noise ratio and greater dynamic range.
Difference: 0.01 µm (0.3%)
Pixel pitch of Lumix DC-G9 is approx. 0.3% higher than pixel pitch of OM-5.
Pixel area
11.02 µm²
11.09 µm²
Pixel or photosite area affects how much light per pixel can be gathered. The larger it is the more light can be collected by a single pixel.

Larger pixels have the potential to collect more photons, resulting in greater dynamic range, while smaller pixels provide higher resolutions (more detail) for a given sensor size.
Relative pixel sizes:
vs
Pixel area difference: 0.07 µm² (0.6%)
A pixel on Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 sensor is approx. 0.6% bigger than a pixel on Olympus OM-5.
Pixel density
9.06 MP/cm²
9.03 MP/cm²
Pixel density tells you how many million pixels fit or would fit in one square cm of the sensor.

Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.
Difference: 0.030000000000001 µm (0.3%)
Olympus OM-5 has approx. 0.3% higher pixel density than Panasonic Lumix DC-G9.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Olympus OM-5
Panasonic Lumix DC-G9
Crop factor
2
2
Total megapixels
21.77
Effective megapixels
20.40
20.33
Optical zoom
 
 
Digital zoom
Yes
Yes
ISO sensitivity
Auto, 200-25600 (extends to 64-25600)
Auto, 200-25600 (expandable to 100)
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
Macro focus range
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
Aperture priority
Yes
Yes
Max. aperture
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
n/a
n/a
Metering
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Exposure compensation
±5 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)
±5 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
Yes
Yes
Min. shutter speed
60 sec
60 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/32000 sec
1/8000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Electronic
Electronic
White balance presets
7
5
Screen size
3"
3"
Screen resolution
1,037,000 dots
1,040,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
4096x2160 (24p)
3840x2160 (60p/30p/24p)
Storage types
SD/SDHC/SDXC, UHS-II
SD/SDHC/SDXC
USB
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
USB 3.0 (5 GBit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
BLS-50 lithium-ion battery
Proprietary lithium-ion battery
Weight
366 g
658 g
Dimensions
125.3 x 85.2 x 49.7 mm
136.9 x 97.3 x 91.6 mm
Year
2022
2017




Choose cameras to compare

vs

Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
Diagonal =  w² + h²
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Olympus OM-5 diagonal

w = 17.30 mm
h = 13.00 mm
Diagonal =  17.30² + 13.00²   = 21.64 mm

Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 diagonal

w = 17.30 mm
h = 13.00 mm
Diagonal =  17.30² + 13.00²   = 21.64 mm


Surface area

Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.

OM-5 sensor area

Width = 17.30 mm
Height = 13.00 mm

Surface area = 17.30 × 13.00 = 224.90 mm²

Lumix DC-G9 sensor area

Width = 17.30 mm
Height = 13.00 mm

Surface area = 17.30 × 13.00 = 224.90 mm²


Pixel pitch

Pixel pitch is the distance from the center of one pixel to the center of the next measured in micrometers (µm). It can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel pitch =   sensor width in mm  × 1000
sensor resolution width in pixels

OM-5 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 17.30 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5208 pixels
Pixel pitch =   17.30  × 1000  = 3.32 µm
5208

Lumix DC-G9 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 17.30 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5200 pixels
Pixel pitch =   17.30  × 1000  = 3.33 µm
5200


Pixel area

The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:
Pixel area = pixel pitch²

You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:
Pixel area =   sensor surface area in mm²
effective megapixels

OM-5 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.32 µm

Pixel area = 3.32² = 11.02 µm²

Lumix DC-G9 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.33 µm

Pixel area = 3.33² = 11.09 µm²


Pixel density

Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel density =  ( sensor resolution width in pixels )² / 1000000
sensor width in cm

One could also use this formula:
Pixel density =   effective megapixels × 1000000  / 10000
sensor surface area in mm²

OM-5 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5208 pixels
Sensor width = 1.73 cm

Pixel density = (5208 / 1.73)² / 1000000 = 9.06 MP/cm²

Lumix DC-G9 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5200 pixels
Sensor width = 1.73 cm

Pixel density = (5200 / 1.73)² / 1000000 = 9.03 MP/cm²


Sensor resolution

Sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels. It's slightly higher than maximum (not interpolated) image resolution which is usually stated on camera specifications. Sensor resolution is used in pixel pitch, pixel area, and pixel density formula. For sake of simplicity, we're going to calculate it in 3 stages.

1. First we need to find the ratio between horizontal and vertical length by dividing the former with the latter (aspect ratio). It's usually 1.33 (4:3) or 1.5 (3:2), but not always.

2. With the ratio (r) known we can calculate the X from the formula below, where X is a vertical number of pixels:
(X × r) × X = effective megapixels × 1000000    →   
X =  effective megapixels × 1000000
r
3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:

Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X

OM-5 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 17.30 mm
Sensor height = 13.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 20.40
r = 17.30/13.00 = 1.33
X =  20.40 × 1000000  = 3916
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3916 × 1.33 = 5208
Resolution vertical: X = 3916

Sensor resolution = 5208 x 3916

Lumix DC-G9 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 17.30 mm
Sensor height = 13.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 20.33
r = 17.30/13.00 = 1.33
X =  20.33 × 1000000  = 3910
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3910 × 1.33 = 5200
Resolution vertical: X = 3910

Sensor resolution = 5200 x 3910


Crop factor

Crop factor or focal length multiplier is calculated by dividing the diagonal of 35 mm film (43.27 mm) with the diagonal of the sensor.
Crop factor =   43.27 mm
sensor diagonal in mm


OM-5 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 21.64 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 2
21.64

Lumix DC-G9 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 21.64 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 2
21.64

35 mm equivalent aperture

Equivalent aperture (in 135 film terms) is calculated by multiplying lens aperture with crop factor (a.k.a. focal length multiplier).

OM-5 equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Olympus OM-5, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Olympus OM-5 is 2

Lumix DC-G9 equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Panasonic Lumix DC-G9, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 is 2

Enter your screen size (diagonal)

My screen size is  inches



Actual size is currently adjusted to screen.

If your screen (phone, tablet, or monitor) is not in diagonal, then the actual size of a sensor won't be shown correctly.