Olympus E-PL2 vs Sony A580

Here is a complete review of the Olympus E-PL2 and Sony A580, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a noticeable gap among the image resolutions of the E-PL2 (12MP) and A580 (16MP) and the E-PL2 (Four Thirds) and A580 (APS-C) use different sensor sizing.

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The E-PL2 was announced 3 months before the A580 so they are both of a similar age. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL2 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A580 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving through a in-depth comparison, below is a brief highlight of how the E-PL2 grades versus the A580 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-PL2 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A580. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL2 Gallery & Sony A580 Gallery.

For those who are looking to carry your camera, you'll need to consider its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-PL2 has outer measurements of 114mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 362 grams (0.80 lbs) and the Sony A580 has proportions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") with a weight of 599 grams (1.32 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-PL2 and Sony A580 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are utilizing at that time. Underneath is the front view sizing comparison of the E-PL2 against the A580.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL2 and A580 is 85 and 64 respectively.

Typically, it is very hard to imagine the difference in sensor sizing simply by seeing specifications. The visual here should give you a greater sense of the sensor sizing in the E-PL2 and A580.

Plainly, both of these cameras have got different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The E-PL2 having a smaller sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF trickier and the Sony A580 will produce greater detail with its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop pics much more aggressively.