Olympus E-P1 vs Sony HX1

Lets look more closely at the Olympus E-P1 vs Sony HX1, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap between the sensor resolutions of the E-P1 (12MP) and HX1 (9MP) and the E-P1 (Four Thirds) and HX1 (1/2.4") boast totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-P1 was revealed 4 months after the HX1 so they are of a similar age. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-P1 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony HX1 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before getting straight to a more detailed comparison, here is a concise overview of how the E-P1 grades vs the HX1 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-P1 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-P1 Gallery & Sony HX1 Gallery.

For anybody who is aiming to carry around your camera, you will want to think about its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-P1 features outside dimensions of 121mm x 70mm x 36mm (4.8" x 2.8" x 1.4") having a weight of 355 grams (0.78 lbs) and the Sony HX1 has measurements of 115mm x 83mm x 92mm (4.5" x 3.3" x 3.6") along with a weight of 544 grams (1.20 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-P1 vs Sony HX1 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you have chosen at that time. Following is a front view size comparison of the E-P1 compared to the HX1.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-P1 and HX1 is 86 and 67 respectively.

Sometimes, it is hard to visualise the difference between sensor sizes purely by reading through specs. The image here might offer you a clearer sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-P1 and HX1.

As you can plainly see, both of those cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The E-P1 using its larger sensor will make achieving shallow DOF less difficult and the Olympus E-P1 will resolve greater detail because of its extra 3MP. Greater resolution will allow you to crop images a bit more aggressively.