Olympus E-PL1 vs Sony FX30

Lets look more closely at the Olympus E-PL1 and Sony FX30, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Advanced Mirrorless by companies Olympus and Sony. There is a sizable difference among the sensor resolutions of the E-PL1 (12MP) and FX30 (26MP) and the E-PL1 (Four Thirds) and FX30 (APS-C) use different sensor sizing.

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The E-PL1 was manufactured 13 years earlier than the FX30 which is a fairly significant difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both cameras come with the identical body type (Rangefinder-style mirrorless).

Before delving through a complete comparison, below is a quick summation of how the E-PL1 matches up vs the FX30 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL1 & Sony FX30. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-PL1 Gallery & Sony FX30 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to travel with your camera, you will need to think about its weight and size. The Olympus E-PL1 has got external dimensions of 115mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") having a weight of 334 grams (0.74 lbs) while the Sony FX30 has specifications of 130mm x 78mm x 85mm (5.1" x 3.1" x 3.3") and a weight of 646 grams (1.42 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-PL1 and Sony FX30 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you select at that moment. Underneath is the front view physical size comparison of the E-PL1 against the FX30.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the E-PL1 and FX30 is 86 and 64 respectively.

In many cases, it can be hard to visualize the gap in sensor dimensions merely by checking out technical specs. The picture below will help give you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL1 and FX30.

As you can tell, both of those cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL1 due to its smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF more difficult and the Sony FX30 will show greater detail due to its extra 14 Megapixels. Higher resolution will help you crop photographs much more aggressively. The more aged E-PL1 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.