Olympus E-PL5 vs Olympus SP-810 UZ

The following is a extensive review of the Olympus E-PL5 and Olympus SP-810 UZ, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both are created by Olympus. The sensor resolution of the E-PL5 (16MP) and the SP-810 UZ (14MP) is pretty comparable but the E-PL5 (Four Thirds) and SP-810 UZ (1/2.3") feature different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL5 was unveiled 14 months after the SP-810 UZ which makes the cameras a generation away from one another. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Olympus SP-810 UZ being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before going straight into a step-by-step comparison, below is a simple synopsis of how the E-PL5 grades versus the SP-810 UZ when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL5 & Olympus SP-810 UZ. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL5 Gallery & Olympus SP-810 UZ Gallery.

If you are looking to travel with your camera often, you are going to need to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL5 has got physical measurements of 111mm x 64mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.5") with a weight of 325 grams (0.72 lbs) while the Olympus SP-810 UZ has sizing of 106mm x 76mm x 74mm (4.2" x 3.0" x 2.9") along with a weight of 413 grams (0.91 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-PL5 and Olympus SP-810 UZ in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you have attached at that moment. The following is the front view sizing comparison of the E-PL5 compared to the SP-810 UZ.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-PL5 and SP-810 UZ is 88 and 78 respectively.

Quite often, its difficult to imagine the gap in sensor dimensions purely by seeing specifications. The image here may offer you a better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-PL5 and SP-810 UZ.

To sum up, each of these cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL5 with its bigger sensor is going to make achieving shallower DOF simpler and the Olympus E-PL5 will provide more detail having an extra 2MP. Higher resolution will make it easier to crop photographs much more aggressively. The younger E-PL5 should have an edge when it comes to sensor innovation.