Olympus E-PL2 vs Sony W610

Following is a comprehensive review of the Olympus E-PL2 and Sony W610, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by competitors Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the E-PL2 (12MP) and the W610 (14MP) is pretty comparable but the E-PL2 (Four Thirds) and W610 (1/2.3") come with different sensor sizes.

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The E-PL2 was manufactured 11 months prior to the W610 which means that they are of a similar age. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-PL2 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony W610 being a Compact camera.

Before diving straight into a step-by-step comparison, below is a short summary of how the E-PL2 scores against the W610 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL2 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W610. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL2 Gallery & Sony W610 Gallery.

If you're going to carry around your camera frequently, you have to think about its weight and size. The Olympus E-PL2 comes with external 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 W610 has specifications of 93mm x 52mm x 19mm (3.7" x 2.0" x 0.7") having a weight of 113 grams (0.25 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-PL2 and Sony W610 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you choose at that time. Following is the front view measurement comparison of the E-PL2 and the W610.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL2 and W610 is 85 and 97 respectively.

Generally, it is very tough to imagine the gap in sensor sizes purely by going through technical specs. The image underneath may offer you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL2 and W610.

As you can tell, both the cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-PL2 due to its bigger sensor is going to make getting bokeh less difficult and the Sony W610 will show greater detail due to its extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also allow you to crop photographs a little more aggressively. The more aged E-PL2 will be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.