Ricoh WG-6 vs Olympus E-M1 II Comparison

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Ricoh WG-6

20 MP | 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) BSI-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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Ricoh WG-6 vs Olympus E-M1 II Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two cameras with different body types: Ricoh WG-6, which was introduced in February 2018 is a Waterproof camera with a 20.0MP 1/2.3" sensor whereas Olympus E-M1 II, which was introduced in September 2016 is a Pro Mirrorless camera with a 20.0MP Four Thirds sensor. There is 17 months difference between WG-6 and E-M1 II so we don't expect to see a huge technology difference between these two cameras but it would still give an advantage to younger WG-6, especially in sensor tech.

Comparing an interchangeble lens camera to a fixed lens camera is a bit tricky but we will do our best to make this a fair comparison.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Ricoh WG-6 Key Specs

Announcement Date: 2018-02-21

20MP - 1/2.3" BSI-CMOS Sensor

ISO 125 - 6400

28-140 mm F3.5-5.5 Zoom Lens

3.00" Fixed Type Screen

fps continuous shooting

4K (UHD) - 3840 x 2160 video resolution

246g. 118 x 66 x 33 mm

Weather Sealed Body

Replaced Ricoh WG-5 GPS Compare

Olympus E-M1 II Key Specs

Announcement Date: 2016-09-19

20MP - Four Thirds CMOS Sensor

No Anti-aliasing (AA) filter

ISO 200 - 25600 ( expands to 64)

Micro Four Thirds Mount

Sensor-shift Image Stabilization

3.00" Fully Articulated Screen

2360k dot Electronic viewfinder

60.0fps continuous shooting

4K (DCI) - 3840 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 Ricoh WG-6

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

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Reasons to choose Ricoh WG-6 over Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

Built-in Flash	Yes vs No	Useful in low-light
Weight	246 g vs 574 g	328 g lighter

Reasons to choose Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II over Ricoh WG-6

Wireless Connection	Built-In vs Supports FlashAir SD cards	Better connectivity
Live Composite Mode	Yes vs No	Excellent help for long-exposure photography
In-built Image Stabilization	Sensor-shift vs None	Sharper images at longer focal lengths and slow shutter speeds
LCD Screen	Fully Articulated vs Fixed Type	Flexible shooting positions
External Flash Shoe	Yes vs No	Better for flash photography
Touch Screen	Yes vs No	Easy control of camera functions
Viewfinder	Electronic vs None	Better framing and control
RAW Support	Yes vs No	Better image quality
Max ISO	25.600 vs 6.400	300% higher Max ISO
Number of Focus Points	121 vs 9	112 more focus points
Max Mech. Shutter	1/8000s vs 1/4000s	faster mechanical shutter
Battery Life	350 shots vs 340 shots	10 more frames with a single charge
Manual Exposure	Yes vs No	better exposure control
Microphone Port	Yes vs No	High quality audio recording option
Headphone Port	Yes vs No	better video control
Sensor Pixel Area	11.22µm² vs 1.39µm²	707% larger pixel area
AE Bracketing Range	±5 EV vs ±2 EV	Wide Bracketing range is useful for HDR
Flash Sync Port	Yes vs No	Connect off-camera flash
Selfie & Vlogger Friendly LCD	Yes vs No	Rotate LCD for taking Selfies
Pixel Shift High-Res Mode	Yes (80 MP) 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
Storage Slot	2 vs 1	Extra storage slot
Smartphone Remote	Yes vs No	Remote control your camera with a smartphone
UHS Card Support	UHS-II vs none	Read/Write in High Speeds
Webcam Function	Yes vs No	Use your camera as a Webcam
Anti Flicker	Yes vs No	Reduced uneven color and exposure under flickering light

Common Strengths of Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

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
Continuous Shooting	fps vs 60.0fps	Fast shooting speeds
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

Common Weaknesses of Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

Ricoh WG-6 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 Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Ricoh WG-6 has external dimensions of 118 x 66 x 33 mm (4.65 x 2.6 x 1.3″) and weighs 246 g (0.54 lb / 8.68 oz) (including batteries). Olympus E-M1 II has external dimensions of 134 x 91 x 67 mm (5.28 x 3.58 x 2.64″) and weighs 574 g (1.27 lb / 20.25 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II. Ricoh WG-6 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 16mm narrower, 25mm shorter and 34mm thinner than Olympus E-M1 II. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Ricoh WG-6 has a built-in lens but Olympus E-M1 II doesn't. Once you put a lens on E-M1 II, its thickness will increase significantly.

Comparison image of Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II.

Top View Comparison image of Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Ricoh WG-6 is significantly lighter (328g ) than the Olympus E-M1 II 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-M1 II, the total kit will weigh much higher.

Weather Sealing

LCD Screen Size and Features

Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3.00".

On the other hand, Olympus E-M1 II sports a Fully Articulated screen which you can change the angle and position of the screen almost freely, making it possible to shoot from waist or over the head levels, and especially very useful for shooting selfies and video. Ricoh WG-6's LCD screen is a fixed type which provides almost no flexibility in shooting positions compared to E-M1 II.

Ricoh WG-6 vs Olympus E-M1 II: Sensor Comparison

Both Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II have 20.0 MP resolution sensors but Ricoh WG-6's sensor is 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) and Olympus E-M1 II's sensor is Four Thirds (17.4 x 13 mm ).

Since Olympus E-M1 II'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 Ricoh WG-6.

One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Olympus E-M1 II's sensor doesn't have an anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moire occurring in certain scenes.

Below you can see the WG-6 and E-M1 II sensor size comparison.

Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II Cameras

As seen above, Olympus E-M1 II has a 8.1x Larger sensor area than Ricoh WG-6. 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.

What types of Photography are Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II Good for?

In this section, we rank and compare Ricoh WG-6 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.

Ricoh WG-6 for Portrait Photography

POOR

Olympus E-M1 II for Portrait Photography

AVERAGE

Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No Image Stabilization
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
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

Ricoh WG-6 for Street Photography

AVERAGE

Olympus E-M1 II for Street Photography

EXCELLENT

Small Body
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No Image Stabilization
No RAW shooting capability
No Built-in Viewfinder
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

Ricoh WG-6 for Sports Photography

POOR

Olympus E-M1 II for Sports Photography

GOOD

Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
140 mm Tele Lens
No Image Stabilization
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
9 Focus Points
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
Anti Flicker feature
Read the details

Ricoh WG-6 for Daily Photography

AVERAGE

Olympus E-M1 II for Daily Photography

GOOD

Compact Body
Environmental Sealings
246g
5.0X Optical Zoom
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
Read the details

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

Ricoh WG-6 for Landscape Photography

POOR

Olympus E-M1 II for Landscape Photography

POOR

Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Environmental Sealings
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Manual Exposure Mode
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

Ricoh WG-6 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 Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II, below you can find their scores in five different aspects. Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 69 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 Ricoh WG-6 and Olympus E-M1 II scores compare:

Ricoh WG-6

Imaging

Features

Value

Portability

Overall

Ranked #72 out of 476 in Compact cameras
Ranked #525 out of 1236 in all Cameras

Olympus E-M1 II

Imaging

Features

Value

Portability

Overall

Ranked #36 out of 95 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked #52 out of 1236 in all Cameras

Olympus E-M1 II is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Ricoh WG-6 in all criteria except one: Portability.
If small size and light body is a big priority for you, choose Ricoh WG-6. Otherwise, Olympus E-M1 II is the better camera overall.

Olympus E-M1 II vs Ricoh WG-6 Specs Table

Detailed comparison of specifications

General	Ricoh WG-6	Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II
Brand	Ricoh	Olympus
Announced	2018-02-21	2016-09-19
Body Type	Compact	SLR-style mirrorless
Sensor
Type	BSI-CMOS	CMOS
Size	1/2.3"	Four Thirds
Dimensions	6.17 x 4.55 mm	17.4 x 13 mm
Area	28.07mm²	226.20mm²
Megapixels	20 megapixels	20 megapixels
Max Resolution	5184 x 3888	5184 x 3888
Max Native Light sensitivity	6,400 ISO	25,600 ISO
Min Native Light sensitivity	125 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	9	121
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount	fixed lens	Micro Four Thirds
Lens Focal Range	28-140 mm (5x)	no lens
Max Aperture	F3.5-5.5	no lens
Macro Focus Range	1cm	no lens
Screen
Type	Fixed type	Fully Articulated
Size	3.00"	3.00"
Resolution	1,040k dots	1,037k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder	None	Electronic
Viewfinder Resolution	no electronic viewfinder	2,360k dots
Viewfinder Coverage	n/a	100%
Viewfinder Magnification	n/a	0.74x
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter	1/4000s	1/8000s
Max Electronic Shutter	n/a	1/32000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Built-in Image Stabilization	Digital only	Sensor-shift
Built-in Flash
Flash Range	5.50 m (with Auto ISO)	no built-in flash
Max Flash Sync	n/a	1/250s
External Flash
Continuous Shooting	n/a	60.0 fps
Multi-Segment Metering
Average Metering
Spot Metering
Partial Metering
AF-Area Metering
Center Weighted Metering
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution	3840 x 2160	3840 x 2160
Video Formats	MPEG-4, H.264	MOV, H.264
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity	Supports FlashAir SD cards	Built-In
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight	246g	574g
Dimensions	118 x 66 x 33mm	134 x 91 x 67mm
Battery Life	340 shots	350 shots
Other Features
Timelapse Recording
GPS	Built-in	None
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score	not tested	80
DxO Color Depth	not tested	23.7
DxO Dynamic Range	not tested	12.8
DxO Low Light ISO	not tested	1312
	Report a correction	Report a correction