Olympus E-PL1 vs Sony NEX-7

Its time to take a more detailed look at the Olympus E-PL1 versus Sony NEX-7, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Advanced Mirrorless by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap between the image resolutions of the E-PL1 (12MP) and NEX-7 (24MP) and the E-PL1 (Four Thirds) and NEX-7 (APS-C) use totally different sensor size.

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The E-PL1 was unveiled 19 months before the NEX-7 which makes the cameras a generation apart from one another. Both cameras come with the identical body type (Rangefinder-style mirrorless).

Before diving in to a full comparison, below is a short summation of how the E-PL1 matches up vs the NEX-7 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL1 & Sony Alpha NEX-7. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-PL1 Gallery & Sony NEX-7 Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to lug around your camera often, you will have to factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-PL1 enjoys exterior measurements of 115mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 334 grams (0.74 lbs) while the Sony NEX-7 has measurements of 120mm x 67mm x 43mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 1.7") having a weight of 400 grams (0.88 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-PL1 versus Sony NEX-7 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are working with during that time. The following is the front view dimension comparison of the E-PL1 and the NEX-7.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL1 and NEX-7 is 86 and 84 respectively.

Quite often, it is very hard to see the difference between sensor measurements simply by reading technical specs. The graphic here will help give you a stronger sense of the sensor sizing in the E-PL1 and NEX-7.

As you can tell, the 2 cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-PL1 with its tinier sensor will make achieving shallow DOF harder and the Sony NEX-7 will offer you more detail having an extra 12 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also help you crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The older E-PL1 is going to be behind when it comes to sensor innovation.