Size and weight are big decision factors when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs.
In this section, we are going to illustrate the Olympus E-M5 and Panasonic ZS8 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Olympus E-M5 has external dimensions of 122 x 89 x 43 mm (4.8 x 3.5 x 1.69″) and weighs 425 g (0.94 lb / 14.99 oz) (including batteries). Panasonic ZS8 has external dimensions of 105 x 58 x 33 mm (4.13 x 2.28 x 1.3″) and weighs 210 g (0.46 lb / 7.41 oz) (including batteries).
Below you can see the front-view size comparison of the Olympus E-M5 and the Panasonic ZS8. Panasonic ZS8 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 17mm narrower, 31mm shorter and 10mm thinner than Olympus E-M5. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Panasonic ZS8 has a built-in lens but Olympus E-M5 doesn't. Once you put a lens on E-M5, its thickness will increase significantly.
Here is the back view size comparison of the Olympus E-M5 and Panasonic ZS8.
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Olympus E-M5 and Panasonic ZS8.
Weight is another important factor, especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Panasonic ZS8 is significantly lighter (215g ) than the Olympus E-M5 which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.
Again, this comparison may not be very useful in real life as we are comparing the weight of a camera with a built-in lens to the body-only weight of an interchangeable lens camera. Once you put a lens on E-M5, the total kit will weigh much higher.
Weather Sealing
With its weather-sealed body, we believe that the E-M5 has a big advantage over the ZS8 which doesn't provide any kind of environmental sealing.
LCD Screen Size and Features
Olympus E-M5 and Panasonic ZS8's LCD screens have the same diagonal size of 3.00 inches.
On the other hand, Olympus E-M5 features a
Tilting screen where you can change the angle of the screen to make it easier to shoot from waist or over-the-head levels whereas the Panasonic ZS8 has a fixed type screen which provides less flexibility in shooting positions compared to E-M5.