Olympus E-500 vs Olympus E-PL1

Following is a complete overview of the Olympus E-500 vs Olympus E-PL1, former is a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and they are both built by Olympus. There exists a sizable gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and E-PL1 (12MP) but both cameras provide the identical sensor sizes (Four Thirds).

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The E-500 was manufactured 5 years before the E-PL1 which is a fairly significant difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus E-PL1 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving straight to a step-by-step comparison, here is a quick highlight of how the E-500 matches up versus the E-PL1 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-500 & Olympus PEN E-PL1. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Olympus E-PL1 Gallery.

When you are planning to carry around your camera often, you'll have to factor its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-500 features physical measurements of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") having a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) and the Olympus E-PL1 has proportions of 115mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") and a weight of 334 grams (0.74 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-500 vs Olympus E-PL1 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you have chosen during that time. Following is a front view proportions comparison of the E-500 compared to the E-PL1.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and E-PL1 is 70 and 86 respectively.

Typically, its difficult to visualize the contrast in sensor sizes purely by checking out specifications. The pic here will provide you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-500 and E-PL1.

Plainly, each of these cameras come with the identical sensor size but different MP. You can expect to see the Olympus E-PL1 to show greater detail due to its extra 4MP. Greater resolution can also let you crop pics a good deal more aggressively. The more aged E-500 will be behind when it comes to sensor technology.