Olympus FE-5020 vs Olympus E-PL8

Below is a detailed comparison of the Olympus FE-5020 vs Olympus E-PL8, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and both of them are created by Olympus. There exists a large gap between the resolutions of the FE-5020 (12MP) and E-PL8 (16MP) and the FE-5020 (1/2.3") and E-PL8 (Four Thirds) have different sensor dimensions.

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The FE-5020 was announced 8 years prior to the E-PL8 and that is quite a serious difference as far as technology is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus FE-5020 being a Compact camera and the Olympus E-PL8 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going right into a thorough comparison, here is a brief introduction of how the FE-5020 grades vs the E-PL8 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus FE-5020 & Olympus PEN E-PL8. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus FE-5020 Gallery & Olympus E-PL8 Gallery.

If you are going to lug around your camera regularly, you're going to have to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus FE-5020 provides physical dimensions of 93mm x 56mm x 25mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 1.0") and a weight of 137 grams (0.30 lbs) while the Olympus E-PL8 has dimensions of 115mm x 67mm x 38mm (4.5" x 2.6" x 1.5") and a weight of 357 grams (0.79 lbs).

Check the Olympus FE-5020 vs Olympus E-PL8 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you select at that moment. Following is a front view over all size comparison of the FE-5020 against the E-PL8.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the FE-5020 and E-PL8 is 95 and 86 respectively.

Sometimes, it's tough to visualize the contrast between sensor measurements merely by going over a spec sheet. The visual underneath will give you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the FE-5020 and E-PL8.

As you can see, both of those cameras have different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The FE-5020 having a tinier sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field more difficult and the Olympus E-PL8 will offer extra detail with its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop shots a bit more aggressively. The older FE-5020 is going to be behind in sensor innovation.