Olympus E-420 vs Olympus E-PL5

Its time to look a bit more closely at the Olympus E-420 vs Olympus E-PL5, one is a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and they are both sold by Olympus. There is a huge difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-420 (10MP) and E-PL5 (16MP) but they enjoy the exact same sensor measurements (Four Thirds).

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The E-420 was manufactured 5 years before the E-PL5 which is quite a significant gap as far as tech is concerned. Both cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-420 being a Compact SLR camera and the Olympus E-PL5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before we go through a in depth comparison, below is a simple highlight of how the E-420 matches up against the E-PL5 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-420 and Olympus PEN E-PL5. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-420 Gallery and Olympus E-PL5 Gallery.

For those who are intending to carry around your camera regularly, you're going to have to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-420 comes with external dimensions of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") accompanied by a weight of 426 grams (0.94 lbs) while the Olympus E-PL5 has measurements of 111mm x 64mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.5") accompanied by a weight of 325 grams (0.72 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-420 vs Olympus E-PL5 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you are utilizing at that time. The following is the front view size comparison of the E-420 against the E-PL5.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the E-420 and E-PL5 is 77 and 88 respectively.

Generally, its difficult to picture the difference between sensor sizes only by checking technical specs. The image below will give you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-420 and E-PL5.

As you have seen, the 2 cameras posses the exact same sensor measurements albeit different resolution. You should expect the Olympus E-PL5 to give greater detail due to its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The more aged E-420 is going to be behind in sensor technology.