Canon 7D MII vs Olympus E-M1 II

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Canon 7D MII

20 MP | APS-C (22.4 x 15 mm) CMOS Sensor

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Olympus E-M1 II

20 MP | Four Thirds (17.4 x 13 mm) CMOS Sensor

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Canon 7D MII vs Olympus E-M1 II Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two cameras with different body types: Canon 7D MII, which was introduced in September 2014 is a Advanced DSLR camera with a 20.0MP APS-C sensor whereas Olympus E-M1 II, which was introduced in September 2016 is a Pro Mirrorless camera with a 20.0MP Four Thirds sensor. As you can see, 7D MII is 2 years older than E-M1 II. Let's see if this age difference between two cameras makes a big difference.

Despite some fundamental differences of these two body types, Mirrorless cameras are becoming serious alternatives to DSLR cameras thanks to their size/weight advantages and recent improvements in their focus speeds , which makes this comparison even more interesting.

Let's have a brief look at the main features of Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Canon 7D MII Key Specs

Announcement Date: 2014-09-15

20MP - APS-C CMOS Sensor

ISO 100 - 16000 ( expands to 51200)

Canon EF/EF-S Mount

3 Fixed Type Screen

Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder

10.0 fps continuous shooting

1920 x 1080 video resolution

Built-in GPS

910g. 149 x 112 x 78 mm

Weather Sealed Body

Replaced Canon EOS 7D Compare

Olympus E-M1 II Key Specs

Announcement Date: 2016-09-19

20MP - Four Thirds CMOS Sensor

ISO 200 - 25600 ( expands to 64)

Micro Four Thirds Mount

Sensor-shift Image Stabilization

3" Fully Articulated Screen

2360k dot Electronic viewfinder

60.0 fps continuous shooting

4096 x 2160 video resolution

Built-in Wireless

574g. 134 x 91 x 67 mm

Weather Sealed Body

Replaced Olympus OM-D E-M1 Compare

Olympus E-M1 II was replaced by Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III vs Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III vs Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Canon EOS 7D Mark II over Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

Built-in Flash	Yes vs No	Useful in low-light
GPS	BuiltIn vs None	track your location
Battery Life	670 shots vs 350 shots	320 more frames with a single charge
Flash Coverage	12.0m vs 9.1m	2.9m longer range
Sensor Pixel Area	16.83µm² vs 11.22µm²	49% larger pixel area
Top LCD	Yes vs No	Help viewing and changing settings easily
Autofocus at f/8 aperture	Center point vs none	Autofocus with teleconverters

Reasons to choose Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II over Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Wireless Connection	Built-In vs None	Better connectivity
Built-in Image Stabilization	Sensor-shift vs None	All the lenses are stabilized
Articulating Screen	Yes vs No	Flexible shooting positions
Touch Screen	Yes vs No	Easy control of camera functions
Max ISO	25.600 vs 16.000	60% higher Max ISO
Number of Focus Points	121 vs 65	56 more focus points
Continuous Shooting	60.0fps vs 10.0fps	50 fps faster
Weight	574 g vs 910 g	336 g lighter
Color Depth	23.7 vs 22.4	higher color depth
Dynamic Range	12.8 vs 11.8	higher dynamic range
Low Light ISO	1312 vs 1082	better High ISO performance
Max Video Resolution	4096 x 2160 vs 1920 x 1080	Higher Resolution Video
Selfie Friendly LCD	Yes vs No	Rotate LCD for taking Selfies
Pixel Shift High-Res Mode	Yes (50.0MP) vs No	Increased resolution with pixel shift
Focus Bracketing	Yes vs No	Take multiple photos shifting focus point
Focus Stacking	Yes vs No	Stacks photos in-camera to maximize depth of field
Smartphone Remote Control	Yes vs No	Remote control your camera with a smartphone

Common Strengths of Canon EOS 7D Mark II and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

External Flash Shoe	Yes vs Yes	Better for flash photography
Viewfinder	Yes (Optical) vs Yes (Electronic)	Better framing and control
RAW Support	Yes vs Yes	Better image quality
Face Detection Focus	Yes vs Yes	very handy for portraits
Max Resolution	20 MP vs 20 MP	Bigger prints and more details
LCD Screen Resolution	1.040k dots vs 1.037k dots	High resolution screens
Microphone Port	Yes vs Yes	High quality audio recording option
Headphone Port	Yes vs Yes	better video control
Environmental Sealing	Yes vs Yes	shoot at tough conditions
Timelapse Recording	Yes vs Yes	creative shooting
AE Bracketing	Yes vs Yes	Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR
Flash Sync Port	Yes vs Yes	Connect off-camera flash
Storage Slot	2 vs 2	Extra Storage Slot
Support for UHS Memory Cards	UHS-I vs UHS-II	Read/Write in Ultra High Speeds
Webcam Function	Yes vs Yes	Use your camera as a Webcam

Common Weaknesses of Canon EOS 7D Mark II and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

Canon 7D MII vs Olympus E-M1 II: Physical Specs and Body features Comparison

Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs. In this section, We are going to illustrate Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions.

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II. Olympus E-M1 II is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 15mm narrower, 21mm shorter and 11mm thinner than Canon 7D MII.

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II.

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Olympus E-M1 II is significantly lighter (336g ) than the Canon 7D MII which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.

Also keep in mind that body weight is not the only deciding factor when comparing two interchangeable camera bodies, you have to also take into account the lenses that you will be using with these bodies. Since Canon 7D MII has an APS-C sized sensor and Olympus E-M1 II has a smaller Four Thirds sensor, Olympus E-M1 II's lenses for a similar focal length and aperture will generally be lighter and smaller than the Canon 7D MII lenses.

Weight Comparison

Mirrorless Cameras

7D MII

E-M1 II

Min

Average

Max

Thickness Comparison

Mirrorless Cameras

7D MII

E-M1 II

Min

Average

Max

Weather Sealing

Both 7D MII and E-M1 II have weather sealings in their body, making them resistant to water and dust.

LCD Screen Size and Features

Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3.

Canon 7D MII vs Olympus E-M1 II: Sensor Comparison

Both Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II have 20.0 MP resolution sensors but Canon 7D MII's sensor is APS-C (22.4 x 15 mm ) and Olympus E-M1 II's sensor is Four Thirds (17.4 x 13 mm ).

Since Canon 7D MII's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Olympus E-M1 II.

Below you can see the 7D MII and E-M1 II sensor size comparison.

As seen above, Canon 7D MII has a 1.5x Larger sensor area than Olympus E-M1 II. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.

DxOMark Sensor Scores

DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that E-M1 II has a better overall score of 80, 10 points higher compared to 7D MII's score of 70.

What types of Photography are Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II Good for?

In this section, we rank and compare Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.

Canon 7D MII for Portrait Photography

AVERAGE

Olympus E-M1 II for Portrait Photography

AVERAGE

Large APS-C (22.4 x 15 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
No Image Stabilization
Read the details

Large Four Thirds (17.4 x 13 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details

Canon 7D MII for Street Photography

AVERAGE

Olympus E-M1 II for Street Photography

EXCELLENT

Large APS-C (22.4 x 15 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
No Image Stabilization
Large Body
Read the details

Large Four Thirds (17.4 x 13 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Fully Articulated LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
Read the details

Canon 7D MII for Sports Photography

EXCELLENT

Olympus E-M1 II for Sports Photography

GOOD

Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Continuous Shooting: 10.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
65 Cross Type Focus sensors
65 Focus Points
Good Battery Life: 670 shots
Good Low Light ISO
No Image Stabilization
Read the details

Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Continuous Shooting: 60.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
121 Focus Points
Good Low Light ISO
Wireless Connection
Read the details

Canon 7D MII for Daily Photography

AVERAGE

Olympus E-M1 II for Daily Photography

GOOD

Large APS-C (22.4 x 15 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Large Body
910g
Body Thickness 78mm
Read the details

Large Four Thirds (17.4 x 13 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Medium size Body
574g
Body Thickness 67mm
Read the details

Canon 7D MII for Landscape Photography

AVERAGE

Olympus E-M1 II for Landscape Photography

AVERAGE

Large APS-C (22.4 x 15 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Built-in GPS
Read the details

Large Four Thirds (17.4 x 13 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Read the details

Olympus E-M1 II vs Canon 7D MII Comparison of Available Lenses

Which camera has more lenses?

Number of available lenses is a big decision factor while choosing your interchangeable lens camera. When we look at the available lenses for these two cameras, we see that Canon 7D MII has an advantage over Olympus E-M1 II. There are 324 lenses for Canon 7D MII's Canon EF/EF-S mount, on the other hand there are only 105 lenses for Olympus E-M1 II's Micro Four Thirds lens mount.

Another important factor is the availability of image stabilization. Olympus E-M1 II has a big advantage in this regard because it has a sensor based image stabilization which means that all the lenses mounted to this body will be stabilized. On the other hand, Canon 7D MII doesn't have this feature so you have to buy a lens with optical stabilization feature. Currently there are 112 lenses for Canon EF/EF-S mount with Optical Image Stabilization features.

Lens Type	# of Canon 7D MII Lenses	# of Olympus E-M1 II Lenses
Standard Zoom	40	15
Standard Prime	19	12
Wideangle Zoom	36	5
Wideangle Prime	49	29
Telephoto Zoom	58	17
Telephoto Prime	42	9
SuperZoom	28	8
Wideangle Fisheye Prime	7	5
Macro Prime	28	4
Perspective Control Prime	16	n/a
Telephoto Mirror Prime	1	1
TOTAL	324	105

Canon 7D MII vs Olympus E-M1 II: OUR DECISION

You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II, below you can find their scores in five different aspects. Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.

Here is a summary of how Canon 7D MII and Olympus E-M1 II scores compare:

Canon 7D MII

Imaging

Features

Value

Portability

Overall

Ranked #37 out of 94 in Mid-size SLR cameras
Ranked #136 out of 1190 in all Cameras

Olympus E-M1 II

Imaging

Features

Value

Portability

Overall

Ranked #16 out of 66 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked #28 out of 1190 in all Cameras

Olympus E-M1 II has a higher Overall Score than the Canon 7D MII and would be our choice if we have to decide between these two cameras.

Canon 7D MII

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Olympus E-M1 II

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Olympus E-M1 II vs Canon 7D MII Specs Table

Detailed comparison of specifications

General	Canon EOS 7D Mark II	Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II
Brand	Canon	Olympus
Announced	2014-09-15	2016-09-19
Body Type	Mid-size SLR	SLR-style mirrorless
Sensor
Type	CMOS	CMOS
Size	APS-C	Four Thirds
Dimensions	22.4 x 15 mm	17.4 x 13 mm
Area	336.00mm²	226.20mm²
Megapixels	20 megapixels	20 megapixels
Max Resolution	5472 x 3648	5184 x 3888
Max Native Light sensitivity	16,000 ISO	25,600 ISO
Max Boosted Light Sensitivity	51200 ISO	-
Min Native Light sensitivity	100 ISO	200 ISO
Min Boosted Light Sensitivity	-	64 ISO
RAW Support
Autofocus
AF Touch
AF Continuous
AF Single
AF Tracking
AF Selective
AF Center
AF Multi Area
AF Live View
AF Face Detection
AF Contrast Detection
AF Phase Detection
Number of Focus Points	65	121
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount	Canon EF/EF-S	Micro Four Thirds
Number of Available Lenses	324	105
Screen
Type	Fixed type	Fully Articulated
Size	3	3"
Resolution	1,040k dots	1,037k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder	Optical (pentaprism)	Electronic
Viewfinder Resolution	no electronic viewfinder	2,360k dots
Viewfinder Coverage	100%	100%
Viewfinder Magnification	0.63	0.74
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter	1/8000s	1/8000s
Max Electronic Shutter	n/a	1/32000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization	No	Sensor-shift
Built-in Flash
Flash Range	12.00 m	9.10 m (at ISO 100)
Max Flash Sync	1/250s	1/250s
External Flash
Continuous Shooting	10.0 fps	60.0 fps
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution	1920 x 1080	4096 x 2160
Video Formats	MPEG-4	MOV, H.264
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity	None	Built-In
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight	910g	574g
Dimensions	149 x 112 x 78mm	134 x 91 x 67mm
Battery Life	670 shots	350 shots
Other Features
Timelapse Recording
GPS	BuiltIn	None
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score	70	80
DxO Color Depth	22.4	23.7
DxO Dynamic Range	11.8	12.8
DxO Low Light ISO	1082	1312
	Report a correction	Report a correction