Olympus E-PL1s vs Sony A33

Below is a in-depth assessment of the Olympus E-PL1s and Sony A33, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the E-PL1s (12MP) and the A33 (14MP) is pretty similar but the E-PL1s (Four Thirds) and A33 (APS-C) possess totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-PL1s was revealed 3 months later than the A33 which means that they are both of a similar age. Both of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-PL1s being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A33 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going straight into a complete comparison, below is a simple overview of how the E-PL1s matches up vs the A33 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL1s & Sony SLT-A33. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-PL1s Gallery & Sony A33 Gallery.

For anyone who is intending to lug around your camera regularly, you will have to consider its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL1s comes with external 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 A33 has sizing of 124mm x 92mm x 85mm (4.9" x 3.6" x 3.3") with a weight of 500 grams (1.10 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-PL1s and Sony A33 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you are utilizing during that time. The following is the front view sizing comparison of the E-PL1s against the A33.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL1s and A33 is 86 and 67 respectively.

More often than not, it is very difficult to visualise the gap between sensor measurements merely by reading specs. The visual here should provide you a more clear sense of the sensor sizing in the E-PL1s and A33.

As you can plainly see, both of those cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-PL1s with its tinier sensor will make getting shallow depth of field trickier and the Sony A33 will offer you greater detail because of its extra 2MP. Higher resolution will enable you to crop pictures a little more aggressively.