Olympus E-PL2 vs Sony A230

Below is a comprehensive overview of the Olympus E-PL2 vs Sony A230, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the E-PL2 (12MP) and the A230 (10MP) is fairly close but the E-PL2 (Four Thirds) and A230 (APS-C) enjoy different sensor measurements.

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The E-PL2 was unveiled 22 months later than the A230 making the cameras a generation apart from one another. Each of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-PL2 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A230 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going straight into a more detailed comparison, below is a brief introduction of how the E-PL2 scores versus the A230 for portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-PL2 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A230. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL2 Gallery & Sony A230 Gallery.

When you are intending to lug around your camera often, you should factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-PL2 has got outside dimensions of 114mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") along with a weight of 362 grams (0.80 lbs) and the Sony A230 has dimensions of 128mm x 97mm x 68mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 2.7") with a weight of 490 grams (1.08 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-PL2 vs Sony A230 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are utilising at the time. Underneath is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-PL2 against the A230.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-PL2 and A230 is 85 and 69 respectively.

More often than not, it is hard to imagine the gap in sensor measurements purely by looking through a spec sheet. The visual below should offer you a clearer sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL2 and A230.

As you can see, the 2 cameras offer different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-PL2 with its smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field harder and the Olympus E-PL2 will render greater detail having an extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also let you crop pics a little more aggressively. The newer E-PL2 provides an advantage in sensor innovation.