EM1 vs DSLR

Hi Guys,

I currently have an Olympus EPM1 and I am looking to upgrade to either an EM1 or a DSLR.

Obviously it would be cheaper for me to move to the EM1, but I am still yet to hear from anyone that has used this camera underwater and I am wondering if I would be better off just moving to something like a Nikon d7100. The EM1 camera with the 12-40 is £2000 at the moment, I could buy a d7100 a tokina 10-17(and sell my 4/3 lenses) and a nikon 60mm macro for that! I know the housing would then be more but I am wondering in the long run if this would be considered a better option?

The smaller size of the Em1 is a plus as I am doing more travelling, but at the end of the day the most important thing is image quality.

I know a lot of this is personal choice but I am still learning and don't want to get something I may later regret.

Any ideas or views on choice of cameras would be good.

Thank you

Given that the underwater housings for the E-M1 are just now coming out, it may be a bit of time before there is a lot of feedback on how the camera actually performs underwater, though the E-M5's performance is well documented. Image quality will be fairly close, at least according to all reliable reports. I'd recommend going to a shop that carries the E-M1, the E-M5 and the D7100 (at a minimum). If video is something that is important to you, also try the Panasonic GX7. Get a sense of the real size difference (compare the lenses, too, not just the bodies). Get a sense for the EVFs vs the optical viewfinder on the Nikon. Also consider that the 12-40 is a relatively expensive lens (though not compared to similar Nikon zoom lens) and may not even be one of your first choices for underwater, given that you are using the 10-17 and the 60mm as comparisons (the Panny 8mm plus the 60mm Olympus together will add up to just a bit more than the 12-40 by itself). If you also plan to rely on this camera for above water, consider what you do above water and figure out what limitations M43 may present (for example, there aren't many, if any, long primes (unless you count the four thirds lenses) and the ability to follow fast action may not be as good as what you'd get from the D7100). Consider if video capability means anything to you or not. By the time you've done this, there should be more real world comparisons on housing performance and sizes for the cameras and that can complete the picture. I do have to say that I like the E-M1, having played with it and compared it in the shop to the E-M5 and the Canon 70D. However, I'd like it alot more if it were a few hundred dollars less expensive. That being said, the housing for it will likely be $1000 less than the one for the D7100 . . .