Olympus E-P5 vs Sony S980

Let's look closer at the Olympus E-P5 versus Sony S980, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Compact by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a noticeable difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-P5 (16MP) and S980 (12MP) and the E-P5 (Four Thirds) and S980 (1/2.3") provide totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-P5 was revealed 4 years later than the S980 and that is quite a sizable difference as far as tech is concerned. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-P5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony S980 being a Compact camera.

Before getting straight to a comprehensive comparison, here is a quick synopsis of how the E-P5 scores against the S980 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-P5 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S980. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-P5 Gallery & Sony S980 Gallery.

For anyone who is aiming to lug around your camera often, you're going to have to consider its weight and volume. The Olympus E-P5 has outer measurements of 122mm x 69mm x 37mm (4.8" x 2.7" x 1.5") with a weight of 420 grams (0.93 lbs) and the Sony S980 has sizing of 93mm x 56mm x 24mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-P5 versus Sony S980 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you have chosen at the time. Underneath is a front view over all size comparison of the E-P5 vs the S980.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the E-P5 and S980 is 85 and 94 respectively.

Generally, it can be difficult to envision the gap between sensor measurements simply by looking at specs. The graphic here may give you a greater sense of the sensor sizing in the E-P5 and S980.

As you can plainly see, both the cameras have different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-P5 with its larger sensor will make shooting shallow DOF simpler and the Olympus E-P5 will resolve greater detail because of its extra 4MP. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop pics a bit more aggressively. The younger E-P5 will have an advantage in sensor innovation.