Olympus E-PL1 vs Sony RX10

Following is a in-depth comparison of the Olympus E-PL1 versus Sony RX10, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the other is a Large Sensor Superzoom by companies Olympus and Sony. There is a big difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-PL1 (12MP) and RX10 (20MP) and the E-PL1 (Four Thirds) and RX10 (1") provide totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-PL1 was announced 4 years before the RX10 which is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL1 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony RX10 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before delving straight to a full comparison, here is a quick synopsis of how the E-PL1 matches up against the RX10 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-PL1 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL1 Gallery and Sony RX10 Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to carry around your camera, you are going to need to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL1 has exterior dimensions of 115mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") and a weight of 334 grams (0.74 lbs) whilst the Sony RX10 has sizing of 129mm x 88mm x 102mm (5.1" x 3.5" x 4.0") with a weight of 813 grams (1.79 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-PL1 versus Sony RX10 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you are employing at that time. Following is a front view physical size comparison of the E-PL1 vs the RX10.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the E-PL1 and RX10 is 86 and 58 respectively.

In many cases, it is hard to envision the difference between sensor sizes merely by looking at specs. The picture underneath may offer you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL1 and RX10.

As you can plainly see, both the cameras have different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The E-PL1 with its larger sensor will make getting shallow depth of field simpler and the Sony RX10 will resolve greater detail with its extra 8 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop images a bit more aggressively. The more aged E-PL1 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.