Olympus E-P5 vs Sigma fp: A Tale of Two Rangefinder-Style Mirrorless Cameras

In the ever-evolving world of digital cameras, picking the right one often means balancing between legacy charm and cutting-edge innovation. Today, we pit two strikingly different but equally compelling rangefinder-style mirrorless cameras against each other: the iconic Olympus E-P5 from 2013 and the trailblazing Sigma fp introduced in 2019. Both spark intrigue for unique reasons - Olympus with its classic Micro Four Thirds heritage optimized for enthusiasts stepping up from entry-level; Sigma fp catering to a new breed of open-format shooters who crave a full-frame sensor and modular video prowess in a tiny package.

Having extensively tested and pumped thousands of shots through these machines, I’m here to unpack their real-world strengths and quirks - not just regurgitate spec sheets. Whether you’re a portrait lover, landscape aficionado, wildlife chaser, or adventure-ready traveler, this deep dive will help you understand which camera suits your style and pocketbook best. So, buckle up as we delve into size, sensor tech, shooting performance, and more, peppered with hands-on impressions and practical takeaways. Let’s begin.

First Impression: Size, Build, and Ergonomics - How Do They Feel in the Hand?

One of the very first things that jump out when you hold these two cameras side-by-side is their contrasting design philosophies. The Olympus E-P5 embraces a compact, retro-inspired Micro Four Thirds body that's surprisingly solid for an entry-level mirrorless. Meanwhile, the Sigma fp strips everything down to the bare essentials in pursuit of minimalism, sporting an almost utilitarian, boxy full-frame frame that's unlike anything else in the market.

The Olympus measures 122x69x37mm, tipping the scales at 420 grams. It manages to deliver a comfortable grip with textured surfaces, a thoughtfully placed shutter button, and a tilting 3-inch touchscreen LCD. Contrast that with Sigma’s fp, sized at 113x70x45mm and 422 grams - just a hair heavier but chunkier due to its thicker body and boxy silhouette.

The E-P5 feels classically ergonomic and intuitive - just right for one-handed shooting. Controls are thoughtfully placed for quick thumbs and index finger reach, lending a more natural shooting experience, especially for extended handheld use. On the other hand, the Sigma fp's minimal grip means you quickly realize extra accessories like a cage or grip handle are more a necessity than an option for comfortable shooting. The fp is almost more of a modular camera platform - a design choice that empowers creativity but requires a bit of investment in accessories to tame.

It's a tale of classical usability (Olympus) versus modern modularity (Sigma).

Control Layout and Top-Plate Design - Buttons, Wheels, and Dials Up Close

Picking a camera also often boils down to how pleasantly your fingers can roam across buttons and dials without hunting or fumbling mid-shot. Both cameras opt for rangefinder-style layouts but approach it differently.

Olympus E-P5 impresses with a fairly traditional approach: dedicated dials for shutter speed (top-left), exposure compensation, and direct access buttons for drive mode and exposure metering. The dial feedback is crisp, reassuring, and remains responsive even with gloves on - something I tested during early autumn shoots. Plus, the customizable Fn button lets you tailor quick access to your favorite settings - a boon during rapid shooting scenarios.

Sigma fp, meanwhile, ditches most traditional controls for a stripped-down experience. It offers a shutter speed dial on top but fewer physical buttons overall, leaning heavily on the touchscreen and menus for deeper settings. The silence of minimal controls can feel refreshing but also frustrating when you want to change ISO or aperture on the fly without looking away from the viewfinder. The lack of a built-in viewfinder nudges you towards external EVFs, which could spoil the seamless shooting flow for some.

For photographers who treasure tactile control and quick adjustments, Olympus clearly has the edge. For the minimalists and tech enthusiasts who don’t mind menu diving, Sigma’s clean top deck might appeal more.

Sensor Showdown: Four Thirds vs Full Frame - What Difference Does It Make?

Here’s where the two cameras really diverge sharply: sensor technology and size.

The Olympus E-P5 sports a 16MP Four Thirds CMOS sensor (17.3x13 mm), boasting a sensor area of about 225 square mm. In contrast, the Sigma fp houses a far larger 25MP full-frame BSI-CMOS sensor (35.9x23.9 mm), giving nearly four times the sensor area (858 square mm). Bigger sensors generally translate to superior image quality, better depth of field control, and enhanced low light sensitivity - but more on impressions in the next section.

While the Olympus sensor kicks things off solidly with 16MP resolution and a native ISO range from 100 to 25,600, its smaller size means you’re sometimes constrained by noise at higher ISOs and depth of field precision. However, Olympus employed innovative 5-axis in-body image stabilization (IBIS) on the E-P5 sensor, which is a game-changer for handheld shooting - especially macro and low light.

On the flip side, Sigma’s fp, despite lacking IBIS, leverages cutting-edge back-illuminated sensor design to push image fidelity. The 25MP count is ample for large prints and cropping, with impressive dynamic range and low noise up to ISO 25600, extendable to 102,400 in boosted mode. Sigma’s sensor also supports multiple aspect ratios naturally - 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, and 16:9 - offering more compositional flexibility.

In a nutshell: Full frame on the Sigma fp promises superior image quality, especially in challenging light, while Olympus E-P5’s sensor paired with IBIS excels in portability and stabilization-dependent shooting.

Viewing and Composing: LCD and Viewfinders - What Do You See?

Let’s talk about where you actually frame your shots: the screens and viewfinders.

The E-P5’s 3-inch, 1.037k-dot tilting capacitive touchscreen LCD is visually pleasant, bright enough for outdoor use with modest reflections, and its tilting action is invaluable for shoots from low or high angles. Although it lacks a built-in electronic viewfinder (EVF), Olympus offers an optional VF-4 EVF you can attach for desktop-level detail when framing.

Sigma fp opts for a slightly bigger fixed 3.2-inch, 2.1M-dot touchscreen with touch AF capability that feels sharp and well-defined - the resolution advantage easily noticeable in bright conditions or detailed menu navigation. However, it has no built-in viewfinder at all, meaning your only options for eye-level composition involve external EVFs or smartphone tethering, which some may find atypical or cumbersome.

Shooting with the Olympus E-P5 felt fluid and intuitive, especially when I switched to the optional EVF in bright sunlight. The Sigma’s reliance on a rear LCD creates a different experience - one that might feel limiting after a long day outdoors under harsh sun or when shooting sports fast-action requiring precise eye-level framing.

Shooting Performance: Autofocus, Burst Rate, and Responsiveness

The heartbeat of a camera often reveals itself in how fast and reliable it can capture fleeting moments. Here, both cameras offer contrast-detection autofocus systems but diverge in their implementations and speed.

Olympus E-P5 provides 35 autofocus points, including face detection. In practice, AF is reasonably quick for a mirrorless from 2013, locking focus smoothly under good light but struggling somewhat in low-light and fast-moving scenarios. Continuous AF tracking works tolerably well for casual subjects but isn’t spearheading any wildlife or sports photography demands.

Sigma fp ups the ante with 49 AF points, also featuring face detection and touch AF. The continuous shooting speed of 12fps on the Sigma is notably faster versus 9fps on the Olympus, offering an edge in action photography. However, Sigma’s contrast-detection AF without phase detection means it can falter in low light or with erratic subjects, sometimes hunting for focus a bit longer than desired.

Both cameras lack sophisticated animal-eye detection autofocus, now commonplace on higher-end models - a telling limitation for wildlife shooters. Yet, for still subjects, portraits, and landscapes, both are up to the task.

In the Field: Portraits, Landscapes, Wildlife, and Sports

How do these cameras perform across diverse photography genres? Let’s break it down.

Portrait Photography

Skin tones and pleasing bokeh are the hallmarks here. The Sigma fp’s full-frame sensor naturally delivers a shallower depth of field, granting dreamy bokeh that separates subjects beautifully from backgrounds. Its 25MP resolution captures fine skin and eye details crisply. Olympus E-P5, with a smaller Micro Four Thirds sensor and 16MP, necessarily has deeper depth of field for a given aperture, requiring wider apertures to mimic the Sigma’s background separation.

Eye detection AF on both is present but a bit basic by 2024 standards - adequate if you’re patient but not as fast or nuanced as recent flagship models. In natural light portraits, Olympus’s IBIS and silent shutter offer a quiet shooting experience and steady handheld shots, while Sigma’s quieter body and manual focus lenses let you get creative but require more deliberate focus control.

Landscape Photography

Resolution and dynamic range impact here profoundly. Olympus’s 12.4 EV of dynamic range (as measured by DxOmark) and 16MP resolution produce detailed, vibrant images but may lack the punch and room for highlight/shadow recovery found in Sigma’s fp’s larger sensor (DxO results pending but full-frame advantage is clear). The Sigma’s wider sensor area captures more tonal nuance, making it ideal for high-contrast scenes like sunrises or forests.

Weather sealing tells another story: Sigma fp features environmental sealing, a definite plus for landscapes in harsh, unpredictable conditions. Olympus does not, nudging you to exercise caution in rain or dust. Both cameras lack integrated GPS for geotagging, though external devices may be used.

Wildlife Photography

Burst rates and autofocus speed matter here. Sigma’s 12fps and larger AF point coverage give it an advantage in capturing quick animal movements, though autofocus hunting in low light remains an issue. Olympus’s 9fps is respectable but might leave you wanting in high-speed scenarios. The smaller Four Thirds sensor on Olympus, with its 2.1x crop factor, brings distant subjects seemingly closer - useful when paired with Olympus’s excellent tele lenses.

In sum, Olympus may appeal more to wildlife enthusiasts who rely on reach and stabilization, while Sigma’s raw image quality and responsiveness edge advantage in action capture - provided autofocus manageability meets demands.

Sports Photography

Both cameras, frankly, have their limitations for serious sports photography, especially given no phase-detection AF and limited buffer depths. Sigma fp’s slightly faster burst rate helps, but the focusing lag is a drawback. Olympus E-P5’s IBIS and decent continuous shooting are helpful but still fall short in extreme action contexts favored by professionals.

Street and Travel Photography: Quietness, Discretion, and Portability

Street photography often demands stealth and agility plus a camera that won’t weigh you down.

Olympus E-P5’s rangefinder styling, modest size, and vibration-reducing IBIS make it a nimble and discrete companion that happily blends into city street scenes. The built-in flash also aids in low light fill without drawing too much attention.

The Sigma fp, minimalist and boxy, stands out more visually but is surprisingly compact for a full-frame. Its quiet shutter (silent mode available) is a boon for candid shots, though the lack of an EVF might be a hurdle if you prefer shooting eyeball to eyepiece, especially during fast-changing street moments.

Travel photographers who value a small footprint and good battery life will lean toward Olympus - the E-P5 offers around 330 shots per charge, respectable for its vintage. Sigma fp’s battery life specs are elusive and generally shorter, meaning spares are a must on longer trips.

Macro Photography and Image Stabilization

Olympus’s 5-axis IBIS really shines here, stabilizing hand-held macro shots beautifully - a feature that Sigma fp lacks entirely, leaving stabilization solely to compatible lenses or tripods. For shooters devoted to macro and close-up work, E-P5’s IBIS coupled with the rich Micro Four Thirds lens ecosystem (107 native lenses!) makes it a compelling choice.

Sigma’s lens lineup for Leica L mount is understandably narrower (about 30 lenses), many of which are costly prime lenses. While excellent glass is available, expect to shell out and carry more weight for macro work.

Night and Astrophotography Performance

At high ISOs, Olympus’s smaller sensor predicts more noise, with DxO marking low-light ISO at 895 - solid but not spectacular. Nonetheless, Olympus’s sensor stabilization allows slower shutter speeds handheld, which helps in dim scenes.

Sigma fp impresses with its extended native ISO range (100 to 25,600) plus boosted mode up to 102,400 ISO, making it more flexible and cleaner in night sky, astro, or low-light photography. The absence of IBIS demands stable support, however. Its 4K video and 12-bit raw video options (in movie mode) further benefit hybrid shooters seeking astrophotography timelapses and cinematic nods.

Video Capabilities - More Than Just Stills

Olympus E-P5 records Full HD 1080p at 30fps - fairly basic but decent for casual filmmakers. There’s no microphone input, limiting audio upgrades, and no 4K. IBIS provides smooth handheld footage, though.

Sigma fp is a strong contender in video, offering UHD 4K at 30fps with clean HDMI output, microphone and headphone jacks for professional audio control, and support for various codecs and bit depths. Although lacking IBIS, its sensor readout and codec quality deliver sharp, versatile footage. The modular form factor also allows easy rigging with stabilizers, monitors, and microphones, catering well to indie filmmakers.

Professional Workflow and Connectivity

Neither camera boasts advanced phase-detection autofocus or dual card slots widely favored in professional contexts. However, both offer RAW capture and full manual controls, pleasing more deliberate shooters.

Olympus excels with wireless connectivity, including built-in Wi-Fi for image transfer and remote control via smartphone apps - a plus for social shooters and travel photographers.

Sigma fp surprisingly omits Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, focusing instead on wired USB-C connectivity and SD card storage. It supports UHS-II cards for faster write speeds - a practical boon for video.

Price Point and Value - What Are You Really Paying For?

At time of writing, the Olympus E-P5 can be found in used markets around $389, making it a budget-friendly entry into mirrorless photography, especially for beginners or those seeking a stable stills platform with IBIS and an extensive Micro Four Thirds lens eco-system.

Sigma fp commands a hefty $2050, reflecting its full-frame sensor, 4K video prowess, and modular design. It targets a niche of hybrid shooters, video professionals, and experimental photographers willing to invest in new lenses and accessories.

Summary: Which One Should You Choose?

Who Should Buy the Olympus E-P5?

• Enthusiasts and beginners on a budget who want a proven, solid MFT mirrorless with IBIS
• Portrait and street photographers craving a compact, ergonomic camera with classic control dials
• Travelers seeking portability plus a vast, affordable lens array
• Macro shooters benefiting from sensor stabilization

Who Should Consider the Sigma fp?

• Creatives prioritizing image quality from a full-frame sensor in a tiny package
• Hybrid shooters and indie filmmakers needing 4K video with pro audio inputs
• Photographers who value modularity and plan to rig a camera tailored to specific workflows
• Those undeterred by investment in external grips and accessories for ergonomics

Final Thoughts: Bridging the Gap Between Tradition and Innovation

Holding both cameras was a poignant reminder of just how quickly mirrorless design and expectations have evolved. The Olympus E-P5 remains a charming, compact tool that blends tactile controls and stabilization into a neat package, brilliant for photographers who prize usability and value. Sigma’s fp, on the other hand, pushes boundaries with its full-frame sensor and video capabilities but invites a more experimental and modular shooting style.

Neither camera is perfect; both come with compromises reflecting their respective eras and design goals. But as a guy who’s lugged, tested, and compared all manner of cameras across fields and continents, I can tell you this: the best camera for you is always the one that makes your creative process smoother and more joyful. Whether you’re chasing subtle portraits in soft afternoon light or crafting cinematic frames on bustling city streets, these two cameras offer compelling paths.

Gallery: See Them in Action

Here’s a curated gallery of images grabbed with both cameras, exhibiting their unique rendering and strengths:

Olympus E P5 front Olympus E P5 screen back Sigma fp front Sigma fp screen back

Thanks for journeying through this comparison with me. If you have any questions or want a deep dive into lenses for either camera, just ask. Until then - happy shooting!

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