Olympus FE-4000 vs Olympus E-PL7

Lets look a little more in depth at the Olympus FE-4000 and Olympus E-PL7, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and they are both manufactured by Olympus. There exists a huge gap among the image resolutions of the FE-4000 (12MP) and E-PL7 (16MP) and the FE-4000 (1/2.3") and E-PL7 (Four Thirds) boast different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The FE-4000 was brought out 6 years prior to the E-PL7 which is a fairly significant gap as far as camera technology is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus FE-4000 being a Compact camera and the Olympus E-PL7 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going into a in-depth comparison, here is a simple synopsis of how the FE-4000 matches up versus the E-PL7 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

The following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus FE-4000 and Olympus PEN E-PL7. The entire galleries are available at Olympus FE-4000 Gallery and Olympus E-PL7 Gallery.

If you're going to travel with your camera regularly, you'll have to factor in its weight and measurements. The Olympus FE-4000 features physical measurements of 95mm x 57mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 136 grams (0.30 lbs) and the Olympus E-PL7 has proportions of 115mm x 67mm x 38mm (4.5" x 2.6" x 1.5") with a weight of 357 grams (0.79 lbs).

See the Olympus FE-4000 and Olympus E-PL7 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you choose at the time. Following is a front view proportions comparison of the FE-4000 vs the E-PL7.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the FE-4000 and E-PL7 is 95 and 86 respectively.

Sometimes, its tough to picture the contrast in sensor dimensions simply by going through a spec sheet. The pic underneath will give you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the FE-4000 and E-PL7.

Clearly, each of these cameras have different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The FE-4000 featuring a smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallower DOF more difficult and the Olympus E-PL7 will produce extra detail having its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also let you crop images a bit more aggressively. The more aged FE-4000 will be behind when it comes to sensor technology.