Olympus E-PL1 vs Sony A850

Following is a complete review of the Olympus E-PL1 and Sony A850, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the latter is a Advanced DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. There exists a huge gap between the image resolutions of the E-PL1 (12MP) and A850 (25MP) and the E-PL1 (Four Thirds) and A850 (Full frame) enjoy different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL1 was unveiled 2 months after the A850 so they are of a similar generation. The two cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-PL1 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A850 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before going straight into a complete comparison, below is a brief summary of how the E-PL1 grades vs the A850 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL1 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A850. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-PL1 Gallery and Sony A850 Gallery.

If you're aiming to carry around your camera regularly, you need to factor in its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-PL1 offers outside dimensions of 115mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") with a weight of 334 grams (0.74 lbs) while the Sony A850 has measurements of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") accompanied by a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-PL1 and Sony A850 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you have chosen during that time. The following is the front view measurement comparison of the E-PL1 vs the A850.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-PL1 and A850 is 86 and 54 respectively.

Normally, it is tough to visualize the difference between sensor sizes purely by looking at specs. The image underneath will provide you a more clear sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL1 and A850.

All in all, each of these cameras offer different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The E-PL1 having a tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallow depth of field trickier and the Sony A850 will resolve more detail having an extra 13MP. Higher resolution can also make it easier to crop photographs a little more aggressively.