Olympus FE-5010 vs Olympus E-PM2

Below, we will be analyzing the Olympus FE-5010 and Olympus E-PM2, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and both of them are built by Olympus. There is a substantial difference among the resolutions of the FE-5010 (12MP) and E-PM2 (16MP) and the FE-5010 (1/2.3") and E-PM2 (Four Thirds) come with different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The FE-5010 was released 5 years before the E-PM2 and that is a fairly big difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus FE-5010 being a Compact camera and the Olympus E-PM2 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before delving through a comprehensive comparison, below is a quick summary of how the FE-5010 scores against the E-PM2 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus FE-5010 & Olympus PEN E-PM2. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus FE-5010 Gallery & Olympus E-PM2 Gallery.

For anybody who is intending to lug around your camera often, you are going to need to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus FE-5010 has got outer measurements 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-PM2 has sizing of 110mm x 64mm x 34mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.3") having a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus FE-5010 and Olympus E-PM2 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you are employing at that moment. The following is the front view dimensions comparison of the FE-5010 and the E-PM2.

Using size and weight, the portability score of the FE-5010 and E-PM2 is 96 and 89 respectively.

In many cases, it is difficult to picture the difference in sensor measurements merely by researching a spec sheet. The photograph here will give you a far better sense of the sensor sizing in the FE-5010 and E-PM2.

As you can see, both the cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The FE-5010 featuring a smaller sensor is going to make achieving bokeh tougher and the Olympus E-PM2 will render more detail as a result of its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will allow you to crop photographs somewhat more aggressively. The older FE-5010 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.