Olympus FE-5020 vs Olympus E-PL9

Let's examine more closely at the Olympus FE-5020 vs Olympus E-PL9, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and both of them are designed by Olympus. There is a sizeable difference between the image resolutions of the FE-5020 (12MP) and E-PL9 (16MP) and the FE-5020 (1/2.3") and E-PL9 (Four Thirds) use different sensor measurements.

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The FE-5020 was manufactured 9 years before the E-PL9 which is quite a large gap as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus FE-5020 being a Compact camera and the Olympus E-PL9 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before delving straight into a thorough comparison, below is a simple summary of how the FE-5020 grades versus the E-PL9 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus FE-5020 and Olympus PEN E-PL9. The entire galleries are available at Olympus FE-5020 Gallery and Olympus E-PL9 Gallery.

For those who are aiming to travel with your camera regularly, you will want to think about its weight and proportions. The Olympus FE-5020 comes with outside dimensions of 93mm x 56mm x 25mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 1.0") along with a weight of 137 grams (0.30 lbs) and the Olympus E-PL9 has measurements of 117mm x 68mm x 39mm (4.6" x 2.7" x 1.5") having a weight of 380 grams (0.84 lbs).

Look at the Olympus FE-5020 vs Olympus E-PL9 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you are working with at the time. Underneath is the front view overall size comparison of the FE-5020 and the E-PL9.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the FE-5020 and E-PL9 is 95 and 85 respectively.

Oftentimes, it's hard to visualize the contrast between sensor dimensions simply by reading specifications. The picture underneath may provide you a clearer sense of the sensor dimensions in the FE-5020 and E-PL9.

Plainly, the two cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The FE-5020 because of its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field trickier and the Olympus E-PL9 will offer you greater detail due to its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will help you crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The more aged FE-5020 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.