Olympus E-PL1s vs Pentax K-70

Let's look a bit more in depth at the Olympus E-PL1s and Pentax K-70, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Pentax. There is a sizable difference among the image resolutions of the E-PL1s (12MP) and K-70 (24MP) and the E-PL1s (Four Thirds) and K-70 (APS-C) come with totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-PL1s was revealed 6 years prior to the K-70 and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL1s being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax K-70 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going straight into a in depth comparison, below is a quick summary of how the E-PL1s matches up vs the K-70 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL1s & Pentax K-70. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-PL1s Gallery & Pentax K-70 Gallery.

In case you're looking to lug around your camera regularly, you'll have to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL1s provides physical measurements of 115mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") along with a weight of 334 grams (0.74 lbs) whilst the Pentax K-70 has sizing of 126mm x 93mm x 74mm (5.0" x 3.7" x 2.9") and a weight of 688 grams (1.52 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-PL1s and Pentax K-70 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you are employing during that time. The following is the front view over all size comparison of the E-PL1s and the K-70.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the E-PL1s and K-70 is 86 and 62 respectively.

Usually, its difficult to visualise the contrast in sensor measurements simply by checking out specs. The visual here will give you a greater sense of the sensor sizing in the E-PL1s and K-70.

All in all, the 2 cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-PL1s using its smaller sensor will make shooting shallower DOF more challenging and the Pentax K-70 will show more detail because of its extra 12 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also allow you to crop shots somewhat more aggressively. The older E-PL1s will be behind with regard to sensor innovation.