Olympus FE-5010 vs Olympus E-PL8

On this page, we will be reviewing the Olympus FE-5010 vs Olympus E-PL8, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and both are designed by Olympus. There exists a sizable gap among the sensor resolutions of the FE-5010 (12MP) and E-PL8 (16MP) and the FE-5010 (1/2.3") and E-PL8 (Four Thirds) have different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The FE-5010 was released 8 years prior to the E-PL8 and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus FE-5010 being a Compact camera and the Olympus E-PL8 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting right into a in depth comparison, here is a short introduction of how the FE-5010 scores versus the E-PL8 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus FE-5010 & Olympus PEN E-PL8. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus FE-5010 Gallery & Olympus E-PL8 Gallery.

For those who are aiming to carry your camera often, you will want to think about its weight and volume. The Olympus FE-5010 provides outside dimensions of 96mm x 57mm x 21mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.8") along with a weight of 130 grams (0.29 lbs) while the Olympus E-PL8 has sizing of 115mm x 67mm x 38mm (4.5" x 2.6" x 1.5") accompanied by a weight of 357 grams (0.79 lbs).

Look at the Olympus FE-5010 vs Olympus E-PL8 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you use during that time. Below is a front view size comparison of the FE-5010 and the E-PL8.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the FE-5010 and E-PL8 is 96 and 86 respectively.

Normally, it can be hard to picture the difference in sensor sizing purely by viewing specifications. The visual here will help give you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the FE-5010 and E-PL8.

To sum up, each of these cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The FE-5010 because of its smaller sensor is going to make achieving bokeh harder and the Olympus E-PL8 will render more detail as a result of its extra 4MP. Higher resolution will let you crop photographs more aggressively. The older FE-5010 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.