Olympus E-P2 vs Pentax K100D

Below is a in depth comparison of the Olympus E-P2 and Pentax K100D, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Pentax. There exists a sizable gap between the image resolutions of the E-P2 (12MP) and K100D (6MP) and the E-P2 (Four Thirds) and K100D (APS-C) provide totally different sensor measurements.

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The E-P2 was brought out 3 years later than the K100D and that is quite a significant difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-P2 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax K100D being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going right into a detailed comparison, here is a simple overview of how the E-P2 scores against the K100D with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-P2 & Pentax K100D. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-P2 Gallery & Pentax K100D Gallery.

If you are going to lug around your camera frequently, you need to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-P2 enjoys outer measurements of 121mm x 70mm x 36mm (4.8" x 2.8" x 1.4") and a weight of 355 grams (0.78 lbs) while the Pentax K100D has dimensions of 129mm x 93mm x 70mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.8") having a weight of 660 grams (1.46 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-P2 and Pentax K100D in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are utilising during that time. Underneath is a front view physical size comparison of the E-P2 and the K100D.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-P2 and K100D is 86 and 64 respectively.

Typically, its difficult to visualise the difference between sensor measurements purely by reading through specs. The visual here might give you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-P2 and K100D.

As you can plainly see, each of these cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-P2 due to its tinier sensor will make getting shallow DOF trickier and the Olympus E-P2 will give extra detail having its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution will make it easier to crop pictures a good deal more aggressively. The newer E-P2 will have an edge in sensor innovation.