Olympus E-PL1s vs Sony A300

The following is a thorough overview of the Olympus E-PL1s versus Sony A300, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by brands Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the E-PL1s (12MP) and the A300 (10MP) is fairly similar but the E-PL1s (Four Thirds) and A300 (APS-C) boast totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-PL1s was revealed 2 years after the A300 which is quite a sizable gap as far as technology is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL1s being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A300 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going into a in-depth comparison, here is a concise summation of how the E-PL1s scores versus the A300 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-PL1s and Sony Alpha DSLR-A300. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-PL1s Gallery and Sony A300 Gallery.

In case you're planning to travel with your camera often, you are going to need to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-PL1s enjoys outer 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) while the Sony A300 has dimensions of 131mm x 99mm x 75mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") and a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-PL1s versus Sony A300 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you have chosen at the time. Here is a front view dimension comparison of the E-PL1s versus the A300.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL1s and A300 is 86 and 64 respectively.

More often than not, its difficult to visualise the contrast between sensor dimensions purely by reviewing specifications. The image below might offer you a far better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-PL1s and A300.

To sum up, both of the cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL1s with its tinier sensor will make shooting shallow depth of field more challenging and the Olympus E-PL1s will offer you greater detail because of its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will let you crop images a bit more aggressively. The fresher E-PL1s is going to have an edge in sensor technology.