Olympus E-P1 vs Olympus E-PL8

Its time to look a little more closely at the Olympus E-P1 and Olympus E-PL8, both Entry-Level Mirrorless digital cameras and both are produced by Olympus. There is a huge difference between the resolutions of the E-P1 (12MP) and E-PL8 (16MP) but they feature the exact same sensor sizes (Four Thirds).

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The E-P1 was announced 8 years prior to the E-PL8 which is quite a significant gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of the cameras come with the identical body type (Rangefinder-style mirrorless).

Before getting in to a complete comparison, below is a short synopsis of how the E-P1 matches up versus the E-PL8 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-P1 and Olympus PEN E-PL8. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-P1 Gallery and Olympus E-PL8 Gallery.

For anybody who is going to travel with your camera, you should factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-P1 provides external measurements of 121mm x 70mm x 36mm (4.8" x 2.8" x 1.4") having a weight of 355 grams (0.78 lbs) whilst the Olympus E-PL8 has measurements of 115mm x 67mm x 38mm (4.5" x 2.6" x 1.5") having a weight of 357 grams (0.79 lbs).

See the Olympus E-P1 and Olympus E-PL8 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you use at the time. Here is the front view measurement comparison of the E-P1 and the E-PL8.

Using size and weight, the portability grade of the E-P1 and E-PL8 is 86 and 86 respectively.

Oftentimes, its hard to visualize the contrast between sensor dimensions simply by reading through specifications. The image below should provide you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-P1 and E-PL8.

Plainly, the 2 cameras posses the exact same sensor measurements but different resolution. You should expect to see the Olympus E-PL8 to give you greater detail with its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop images somewhat more aggressively. The more aged E-P1 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.