Olympus E-PL1 vs Sony A77 II

The following is a detailed comparison of the Olympus E-PL1 and Sony A77 II, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Advanced DSLR by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a substantial gap between the image resolutions of the E-PL1 (12MP) and A77 II (24MP) and the E-PL1 (Four Thirds) and A77 II (APS-C) boast different sensor measurements.

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The E-PL1 was introduced 5 years before the A77 II which is quite a big difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL1 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A77 II being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before getting right into a full comparison, here is a quick view of how the E-PL1 matches up vs the A77 II with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

The following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-PL1 & Sony SLT-A77 II. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL1 Gallery & Sony A77 II Gallery.

When you are planning to travel with your camera often, you are going to need to factor its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-PL1 provides exterior measurements of 115mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 334 grams (0.74 lbs) while the Sony A77 II has proportions of 143mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.2") having a weight of 647 grams (1.43 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-PL1 and Sony A77 II in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you have at that time. Underneath is a front view dimensions comparison of the E-PL1 against the A77 II.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-PL1 and A77 II is 86 and 62 respectively.

Normally, it is very tough to imagine the gap between sensor dimensions purely by looking at technical specs. The image below will give you a greater sense of the sensor measurements in the E-PL1 and A77 II.

As you have seen, the 2 cameras have different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL1 with its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field harder and the Sony A77 II will resolve extra detail using its extra 12 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop images a bit more aggressively. The more aged E-PL1 is going to be behind in sensor innovation.