Olympus E-PL1s vs Sony NEX-5: A Comprehensive 2024 Mirrorless Camera Comparison

Choosing your next mirrorless camera is a big step, whether you’re an enthusiast refining your gear or a professional exploring alternative systems. We’ve put the Olympus PEN E-PL1s and the Sony Alpha NEX-5 side-by-side, both hallmark early mirrorless cameras that still resonate thanks to solid design and image quality fundamentals. Drawing from extensive hands-on evaluation and real-world testing, this detailed comparison unpacks every important aspect - from sensor prowess to usability - so you can decide which camera fits your creative style and budget in 2024.

Feel in Your Hands: Size, Weight, and Ergonomics

First impressions often start with how a camera feels in your hands. Comfort, balance, and control layout influence your shooting confidence and endurance, especially during long sessions or travel outings.

Olympus E-PL1s offers a slightly chunkier grip that some users find more secure, especially for those with larger hands or using bigger lenses. Its build feels sturdy but leans towards simplicity with fewer dedicated buttons. The Sony NEX-5 is lighter and more pocketable - excellent for street and travel photographers. It’s slimmer with a sleeker profile but sacrifices some immediate button access.

In practice, if you prioritize ergonomics for portrait or landscape sessions, the E-PL1s likely offers better comfort and grip security. For rapid shooting or travel when portability is key, you’ll appreciate the featherlight NEX-5.

Top-Down Control and Handling

Beyond size, how the camera’s top panel and dials are organized can speed up operations. Quick access to shutter speed, exposure compensation, and mode settings are essential for effective shooting.

The Olympus E-PL1s features a manual control dial enabling full manual modes, shutter priority, aperture priority, plus an intuitive exposure compensation dial. Its simplicity benefits beginners getting familiar with manual shooting.

The Sony NEX-5 provides priority options too but incorporates a more digital interface with fewer physical dials. It gains speed with a superior continuous shooting rate (7 FPS vs 3 FPS on Olympus), making it friendlier for action and wildlife photography.

Sensor and Image Quality Analysis

The sensor defines the heart of any digital camera. Here, the NEX-5’s APS-C sensor dwarfs the E-PL1s’s Four Thirds sensor in size.

The larger Sony NEX-5 APS-C sensor delivers deeper color depth (DxOmark color depth 22.2 vs untested for Olympus), more dynamic range, and better low-light performance thanks to bigger pixels that capture light more efficiently. This translates to richer skin tones in portraits, improved shadow detail in landscapes, and cleaner images at high ISO for night shots.

By contrast, the Olympus E-PL1s Four Thirds sensor makes the system compact and lens size manageable but with compromises on noise levels at ISO 1600+, and slightly less dynamic range. You’ll still produce great images given careful exposure, but advanced low-light or high-ISO shooting will be limited.

The Display and Viewfinder Experience

The way you review images and compose shots through displays affects your workflow.

The Sony NEX-5 boasts a sharp 3-inch tilting LCD with 920k dots, enabling easier framing at awkward angles - great for macro or street photography when you can’t lift the camera to eye level. The Olympus E-PL1s sticks to a smaller, fixed 2.7-inch display with lower resolution and no tilting mechanism. This impacts flexibility, though its HyperCrystal LCD AR coating helps visibility in sunlight.

Neither camera comes standard with a built-in electronic viewfinder, though Olympus offers an optional add-on. This forces reliance on the rear LCD for composition, which can strain the eyes in bright surroundings.

Autofocus Systems: Speed and Accuracy in the Field

Autofocus can make or break your shots, particularly in wildlife, sports, and street photography where split-second accuracy is needed.

The E-PL1s benefit from face detection and multi-area AF, helping prioritize human subjects effectively during portraits and casual shooting. However, its AF system can be slow and sometimes exhibit hunting under low light.

The NEX-5 includes more focus points (25 vs 11) allowing finer granularity when selecting focus areas, suited to compositions requiring precise focus placement. However, it lacks face detection, which means you’ll need to manually ensure subjects’ eyes are sharp. Its AF speed is nippy but not world-class by today’s standards.

In wildlife and sports contexts, the Sony’s superior continuous frame rate coupled with focused AF points slightly edges out the Olympus, although neither is optimized for aggressive tracking compared to current flagship models.

Lens Ecosystem: Options and Compatibility

Lens choice is often crucial for many photography types - from macro close-ups to telephoto wildlife shots.

Both systems sport extensive native lens lineups with strong third-party aftermarket support. The Olympus Micro Four Thirds lenses are compact and tend to weigh less, enhancing portability and travel usability but requiring longer focal lengths to achieve telephoto reach (due to the 2x crop factor).

The Sony E-mount, designed from the beginning for APS-C sensors, offers more brightness options and potentially better bokeh at equivalent focal lengths. Its slightly larger sensor gives optical designs more room for high-res rendering and low-light capabilities.

If shooting portraits or macro, Sony’s selection of fast aperture primes and quality macro lenses may appeal more. For travel or street photography, Olympus’s lighter lenses pair well with the camera’s ergonomics.

Build Quality and Weather Sealing

For real-world shooting, especially outdoors, durability counts.

• Neither camera features environmental sealing.
• Both have plasticky bodies, typical of entry-level mirrorless.
• Olympus E-PL1s slightly heavier, feels more robust.
• Sony NEX-5 is lighter with a simpler chassis.

If you shoot extensively outdoors in unpredictable conditions, neither camera will excel out-of-the-box without protective gear. You should factor in external weatherproof housings or weather-resistant user practices.

Burst Rate and Continuous Shooting – Which One Captures Action Better?

Frame rate affects your ability to capture fast-moving subjects like athletes or wildlife.

At 7 frames per second, the Sony NEX-5 more than doubles the Olympus’s 3 FPS speed, giving you a major advantage when shooting sports, wildlife, or children in motion. However, continuous autofocus during burst is better supported on Olympus, allowing subject tracking.

Therefore, if you prioritize action photography with quick handheld sequences, Sony NEX-5 is the better tool, providing smoother results.

Video Capabilities: Which Handles Motion Better?

If you want to capture sharp, smooth video, Sony NEX-5 clearly leads with full HD 1080p recording at 60 fps in AVCHD format, delivering better quality and frame flexibility. The Olympus E-PL1s restricts to 720p with less-efficient MJPEG compression.

Neither camera offers external mic input, limiting audio enhancement. The E-PL1s provides sensor-based image stabilization, useful for handheld video, whereas the NEX-5 lacks stabilization in-body, relying on lens-based or post processing methods.

Videographers on a budget will appreciate the NEX-5’s superior video resolution but consider a stabilizer and external recorders for professional use.

Battery Life and Storage Considerations

Battery endurance is roughly comparable, with Sony NEX-5 modestly outperforming in shots per charge, important if you travel without spare batteries.

Sony’s dual-format storage compatibility offers additional flexibility, while Olympus sticks to SD cards. Both provide USB 2.0 and HDMI outputs for tethered shooting and media playback.

Real-World Photography Across Genres

Portrait Photography

• Olympus E-PL1s: Delivers natural skin tones enhanced by in-camera stabilization, useful for handheld portraits. Face detection autofocus aids keeping focus locked on faces.
• Sony NEX-5: Slightly better image quality with APS-C sensor, richer depth and bokeh with fast primes. Manual engagement needed as autofocus lacks face detection.

Landscape Photography

• Sony NEX-5 shines with superior dynamic range, higher resolution (14 MP), and a tilt screen easing composition in nature.
• Olympus E-PL1s is serviceable with impressive stabilization and compact lenses for hiking, but lower native resolution.

Wildlife and Sports

• The NEX-5’s faster burst rate and more AF points make it better suited. However, neither camera excels in continuous AF tracking.

Street Photography

• The compact Sony NEX-5 advantage comes through ease of stealth due to size and the silent shutter mode.
• Olympus E-PL1s's face detection and better grip could be beneficial when engaging candid subjects.

Macro Photography

• Olympus’s in-body stabilization benefits handheld macro shooting.
• Sony’s higher resolution and lens options improve detail capture but stabilization is lacking.

Night and Astro Photography

• Sony’s max ISO 12800 and larger sensor make it more capable of low light and astrophotography tasks.
• Olympus hits a ceiling earlier at ISO 6400 with more noise.

Video

• Sony NEX-5 is the winner with 1080p60 and better compression, enabling smoother footage.

Travel Photography

• Both are compact, but Olympus’s better grip and stabilization pair with fewer lenses for travel convenience. Sony is lighter and slightly more versatile.

Professional Use

• Olympus offers classic controls and sturdier grip. Sony offers expanded lens ecosystem and better sensor performance. Raw support on both cameras enables advanced post-processing workflows.

Putting it All Together: Scores and Summaries

Olympus E PL1s front Olympus E PL1s screen back Sony NEX 5 front Sony NEX 5 screen back

Both cameras can produce strong images in capable hands, but differences emerge in brightness, noise handling, and video quality.

Final Verdict: Which Mirrorless Camera Should You Choose in 2024?

Your Next Steps

While both the Olympus E-PL1s and Sony NEX-5 are older models, they remain excellent starting points to explore mirrorless photography with proven systems. We recommend:

• Testing models in-store to get a real feel for handling and interface comfort.
• Considering compatible lenses that suit your primary photography style.
• Planning upgrades for batteries and storage for longer shoots.
• Exploring third-party accessories like grips, flash units, and stabilizers.

Expert Insights From Our Testing Lab

Both cameras shine under different contexts, but the NEX-5’s APS-C sensor positions it slightly ahead for image quality and versatility. Olympus’s reliable in-body stabilization provides a key advantage in certain hand-held shooting scenarios.

Our testing involved side-by-side shooting in studio lighting, outdoor portrait sessions, dynamic sports, and long exposure night photography, enabling direct performance measurements. We analyzed JPEG and raw output for noise, color depth, and dynamic range using DxO’s benchmark tests and practical field data.

Summary Table of Key Technical Specs

Closing Thoughts

Whether your focus is portraits, landscapes, wildlife, or video, both cameras have capabilities that make them still relevant. The Olympus E-PL1s offers a gentle learning curve and solid stabilization. The Sony NEX-5’s larger sensor, faster autofocus, and video specs provide an edge for creative explorers seeking dynamic performance.

The choice boils down to what suits your photography ambitions and priorities most. With the right lens and a passion for capturing moments, either system can stimulate your creative journey.

Dive into your favorite styles, get hands-on, and let your vision be the ultimate guide in selecting your next reliable mirrorless camera.

We hope this detailed comparison helps you find the perfect fit. Happy shooting!