Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic FZ100

Let's look a bit more closely at the Olympus E-PL5 versus Panasonic FZ100, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. The image resolution of the E-PL5 (16MP) and the FZ100 (14MP) is pretty well matched but the E-PL5 (Four Thirds) and FZ100 (1/2.3") possess different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL5 was launched 2 years later than the FZ100 and that is quite a significant difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic FZ100 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before we go straight into a in-depth comparison, below is a quick summation of how the E-PL5 matches up against the FZ100 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL5 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL5 Gallery & Panasonic FZ100 Gallery.

For anyone who is aiming to lug around your camera often, you are going to need to consider its weight and size. The Olympus E-PL5 offers exterior measurements of 111mm x 64mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.5") having a weight of 325 grams (0.72 lbs) and the Panasonic FZ100 has specifications of 124mm x 82mm x 92mm (4.9" x 3.2" x 3.6") and a weight of 540 grams (1.19 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-PL5 versus Panasonic FZ100 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are employing at that time. Below is the front view scale comparison of the E-PL5 compared to the FZ100.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL5 and FZ100 is 88 and 67 respectively.

Quite often, its difficult to picture the gap between sensor measurements simply by looking at specs. The graphic here will help provide you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-PL5 and FZ100.

As you can plainly see, the two cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-PL5 because of its bigger sensor is going to make shooting bokeh simpler and the Olympus E-PL5 will resolve greater detail utilizing its extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution will help you crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The fresher E-PL5 should have an advantage with regard to sensor technology.