Olympus E-PL1 vs Sony RX100 VA

Below, we are contrasting the Olympus E-PL1 versus Sony RX100 VA, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Large Sensor Compact by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap among the resolutions of the E-PL1 (12MP) and RX100 VA (20MP) and the E-PL1 (Four Thirds) and RX100 VA (1") enjoy totally different sensor measurements.

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The E-PL1 was announced 9 years prior to the RX100 VA and that is a fairly large difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL1 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony RX100 VA being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before going in to a thorough comparison, below is a simple summary of how the E-PL1 matches up versus the RX100 VA when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-PL1 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 V(A). The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL1 Gallery & Sony RX100 VA Gallery.

If you're aiming to carry your camera regularly, you'll have to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-PL1 comes with external dimensions of 115mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") with a weight of 334 grams (0.74 lbs) and the Sony RX100 VA has dimensions of 102mm x 58mm x 41mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.6") and a weight of 299 grams (0.66 lbs).

See the Olympus E-PL1 versus Sony RX100 VA in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are working with at the time. Following is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-PL1 against the RX100 VA.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-PL1 and RX100 VA is 86 and 89 respectively.

Quite often, its hard to envision the difference in sensor sizing purely by going through specifications. The photograph underneath may give you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL1 and RX100 VA.

Plainly, the 2 cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E-PL1 having a larger sensor will make getting shallow DOF simpler and the Sony RX100 VA will produce more detail with its extra 8 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also let you crop images somewhat more aggressively. The older E-PL1 will be disadvantaged in sensor tech.