Olympus E-PL2 vs Pentax ist DS2

Its time to look a bit more closely at the Olympus E-PL2 and Pentax ist DS2, one being a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the latter is a Advanced DSLR by brands Olympus and Pentax. There exists a significant gap between the sensor resolutions of the E-PL2 (12MP) and ist DS2 (6MP) and the E-PL2 (Four Thirds) and ist DS2 (APS-C) feature different sensor sizing.

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The E-PL2 was unveiled 5 years later than the ist DS2 and that is quite a sizable gap as far as technology is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL2 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax ist DS2 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before diving straight into a complete comparison, below is a quick summation of how the E-PL2 matches up vs the ist DS2 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN E-PL2 and Pentax ist DS2. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL2 Gallery and Pentax ist DS2 Gallery.

If you're aiming to lug around your camera often, you have to consider its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-PL2 has got outer dimensions of 114mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") with a weight of 362 grams (0.80 lbs) and the Pentax ist DS2 has proportions of 125mm x 93mm x 66mm (4.9" x 3.7" x 2.6") with a weight of 605 grams (1.33 lbs).

See the Olympus E-PL2 and Pentax ist DS2 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you choose at the time. Here is the front view overall size comparison of the E-PL2 against the ist DS2.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL2 and ist DS2 is 85 and 68 respectively.

Sometimes, it is very difficult to picture the contrast between sensor measurements purely by reading through a spec sheet. The visual below may provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL2 and ist DS2.

As you can see, both of these cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-PL2 using its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field more challenging and the Olympus E-PL2 will give you more detail having an extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also make it easier to crop shots somewhat more aggressively. The more recent E-PL2 provides a benefit in sensor tech.