Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic FX78

Its time to take a deeper look at the Olympus E-PL5 and Panasonic FX78, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the other is a Small Sensor Compact by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a big gap between the image resolutions of the E-PL5 (16MP) and FX78 (12MP) and the E-PL5 (Four Thirds) and FX78 (1/2.3") enjoy totally different sensor size.

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The E-PL5 was brought out 21 months after the FX78 making the cameras a generation away from one another. The two cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic FX78 being a Compact camera.

Before getting through a detailed comparison, below is a short summation of how the E-PL5 grades vs the FX78 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-PL5 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX78. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL5 Gallery and Panasonic FX78 Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to travel with your camera frequently, you're going to have to consider its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-PL5 enjoys external dimensions of 111mm x 64mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.5") having a weight of 325 grams (0.72 lbs) whilst the Panasonic FX78 has dimensions of 100mm x 55mm x 21mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 0.8") along with a weight of 142 grams (0.31 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-PL5 and Panasonic FX78 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you select at the time. Following is the front view overall size comparison of the E-PL5 and the FX78.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-PL5 and FX78 is 88 and 95 respectively.

Normally, its tough to envision the gap between sensor dimensions merely by checking technical specs. The picture here may give you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL5 and FX78.

As you have seen, the two cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL5 because of its larger sensor will make getting bokeh easier and the Olympus E-PL5 will give you more detail having its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The fresher E-PL5 is going to have a benefit in sensor technology.