Olympus E-PL1 vs Sony A55

Its time to look more closely at the Olympus E-PL1 and Sony A55, one being a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. There is a huge difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-PL1 (12MP) and A55 (16MP) and the E-PL1 (Four Thirds) and A55 (APS-C) posses different sensor measurements.

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The E-PL1 was unveiled 3 months prior to the A55 so they are both of a similar generation. Both cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-PL1 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A55 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting straight to a detailed comparison, here is a short overview of how the E-PL1 scores versus the A55 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL1 and Sony SLT-A55. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL1 Gallery and Sony A55 Gallery.

If you are aiming to carry your camera frequently, you'll have to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL1 features external dimensions of 115mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") along with a weight of 334 grams (0.74 lbs) and the Sony A55 has sizing of 124mm x 92mm x 85mm (4.9" x 3.6" x 3.3") along with a weight of 500 grams (1.10 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-PL1 and Sony A55 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you select during that time. Here is a front view physical size comparison of the E-PL1 compared to the A55.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL1 and A55 is 86 and 67 respectively.

In many cases, it's hard to visualize the contrast between sensor sizing only by checking specs. The graphic below may offer you a stronger sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL1 and A55.

All in all, the two cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The E-PL1 using its tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF more challenging and the Sony A55 will resolve extra detail having an extra 4MP. Higher resolution will also allow you to crop photographs a good deal more aggressively.