Olympus E-5 vs Sony RX1

Lets take a deeper look at the Olympus E-5 and Sony RX1, former is a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Large Sensor Compact by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap among the image resolutions of the E-5 (12MP) and RX1 (24MP) and the E-5 (Four Thirds) and RX1 (Full frame) come with totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-5 was launched 24 months prior to the RX1 making the cameras a generation away from one another. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-5 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony RX1 being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before diving in to a detailed comparison, below is a short summation of how the E-5 grades versus the RX1 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-5 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-5 Gallery & Sony RX1 Gallery.

For anybody who is going to carry around your camera, you'll need to take into account its weight and size. The Olympus E-5 offers outer measurements of 143mm x 117mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") along with a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs) and the Sony RX1 has specifications of 113mm x 65mm x 70mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 2.8") accompanied by a weight of 482 grams (1.06 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-5 and Sony RX1 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you have chosen during that time. Below is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-5 vs the RX1.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-5 and RX1 is 58 and 79 respectively.

Quite often, it's difficult to visualise the difference in sensor sizes simply by researching specs. The image below should offer you a greater sense of the sensor sizing in the E-5 and RX1.

As you can plainly see, both of these cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The E-5 featuring a smaller sensor will make shooting bokeh harder and the Sony RX1 will render greater detail utilizing its extra 12MP. Greater resolution can also let you crop images far more aggressively. The more aged E-5 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor technology.