Olympus E-PL1 vs Sony A57

Below is a thorough assessment of the Olympus E-PL1 versus Sony A57, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a noticeable difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-PL1 (12MP) and A57 (16MP) and the E-PL1 (Four Thirds) and A57 (APS-C) boast totally different sensor sizes.

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The E-PL1 was announced 3 years earlier than the A57 and that is quite a sizable difference as far as tech is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL1 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A57 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting right into a more detailed comparison, here is a brief highlight of how the E-PL1 grades versus the A57 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL1 & Sony SLT-A57. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL1 Gallery & Sony A57 Gallery.

In case you're planning to lug around your camera, you'll have to think about its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL1 has got exterior measurements of 115mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") having a weight of 334 grams (0.74 lbs) whilst the Sony A57 has sizing of 132mm x 98mm x 81mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.2") along with a weight of 618 grams (1.36 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-PL1 versus Sony A57 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are utilizing during that time. Underneath is a front view proportions comparison of the E-PL1 against the A57.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL1 and A57 is 86 and 64 respectively.

Often, it is hard to visualise the difference between sensor measurements only by looking at technical specs. The graphic here may provide you a clearer sense of the sensor measurements in the E-PL1 and A57.

As you can tell, the two cameras have different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-PL1 having a tinier sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field more difficult and the Sony A57 will resolve more detail with its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also allow you to crop pictures a bit more aggressively. The older E-PL1 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor technology.