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Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7

Portability
88
Imaging
52
Features
72
Overall
60
Olympus PEN E-PL5 front
 
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 front
Portability
86
Imaging
35
Features
61
Overall
45

Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7 Key Specs

Olympus E-PL5
(Full Review)
  • 16MP - Four Thirds Sensor
  • 3" Tilting Screen
  • ISO 200 - 25600
  • Sensor based Image Stabilization
  • 1920 x 1080 video
  • Micro Four Thirds Mount
  • 325g - 111 x 64 x 38mm
  • Announced September 2012
Panasonic LX7
(Full Review)
  • 10MP - 1/1.7" Sensor
  • 3" Fixed Screen
  • ISO 80 - 6400 (Push to 12800)
  • Optical Image Stabilization
  • 1920 x 1080 video
  • 24-90mm (F1.4-2.3) lens
  • 298g - 111 x 68 x 46mm
  • Launched October 2012
  • Old Model is Panasonic LX5
  • Later Model is Panasonic LX10
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Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7 Overview

Following is a comprehensive analysis of the Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There is a substantial difference between the resolutions of the E-PL5 (16MP) and LX7 (10MP) and the E-PL5 (Four Thirds) and LX7 (1/1.7") have different sensor measurements.

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The E-PL5 was revealed within a month of the LX7 which means that they are of a similar age. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic LX7 being a Compact camera.

Before delving into a step-by-step comparison, here is a concise synopsis of how the E-PL5 matches up against the LX7 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

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Reasons to pick Olympus E-PL5 over the Panasonic LX7

 E-PL5 LX7 
Screen typeTiltingFixed Tilting screen
Selfie screen Take selfies
Touch friendly screen Quickly navigate

Reasons to pick Panasonic LX7 over the Olympus E-PL5

 LX7 E-PL5 
Screen resolution920k460kCrisper screen (+460k dot)

Common features in the Olympus E-PL5 and Panasonic LX7

 E-PL5 LX7 
LaunchedSeptember 2012October 2012Similar age
Manually focus Dial exact focus
Screen dimensions3"3"Equal screen measurements

Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7 Physical Comparison

For those who are intending to carry around your camera regularly, you're going to have to think about its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL5 offers exterior measurements of 111mm x 64mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.5") along with a weight of 325 grams (0.72 lbs) while the Panasonic LX7 has sizing of 111mm x 68mm x 46mm (4.4" x 2.7" x 1.8") accompanied by a weight of 298 grams (0.66 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool. Camera Size Comparison with Lenses

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you are working with during that time. Following is a front view physical size comparison of the E-PL5 and the LX7.

Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7 size comparison

Considering size and weight, the portability score of the E-PL5 and LX7 is 88 and 86 respectively.

Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7 top view buttons comparison

Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7 Sensor Comparison

Often, it is very difficult to picture the difference between sensor sizes just by reading specs. The pic underneath will give you a greater sense of the sensor measurements in the E-PL5 and LX7.

As you can plainly see, the two cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-PL5 having a bigger sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field less difficult and the Olympus E-PL5 will deliver extra detail because of its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also allow you to crop photographs more aggressively.

Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7 sensor size comparison

Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7 Screen and ViewFinder

Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7 Screen and Viewfinder comparison
Photography Glossary

Photography Type Scores

Portrait Comparison

Olympus E-PL5 Portrait photography highlights
Panasonic LX7 Portrait photography highlights
71
focusing manually
MP count good (16MP)
good sensor size (Four Thirds)
offers face detection focus
delivers RAW formats
45
focusing manually
has face detection autofocus
exports RAW formats
sensor resolution not great (10 megapixels)
small sensor size (1/1.7")
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Street Comparison

Olympus E-PL5 Street photography features
Panasonic LX7 Street photography features
85
screen tilts up and down
built in image stabilization (Sensor based)
good sensor size (Four Thirds)
delivers RAW formats
supports touch to focus
great ISO range (25,600)
58
built in image stabilization (Optical)
exports RAW formats
screen is fixed
small sensor size (1/1.7")
heavier than average (298 grams)
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Sports Comparison

Olympus E-PL5 Sports photography details
Panasonic LX7 Sports photography details
66
built in image stabilization (Sensor based)
MP count good (16 megapixels)
good sensor size (Four Thirds)
offers tracking autofocus
lacks phase detect auto focus
42
built in image stabilization (Optical)
has tracking autofocus
better than average battery power (330 shots)
sensor resolution not great (10MP)
small sensor size (1/1.7")
doesn't have phase detect autofocus
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Travel Comparison

Olympus E-PL5 Travel photography factors
Panasonic LX7 Travel photography factors
75
supports touch to focus
MP count good (16 megapixels)
display is selfie friendly
no Timelapse recording
64
better than average battery power (330 CIPA)
built-in flash
reasonably wide (24mm)
very good max aperture (f1.4)
heavier than average (298 grams)
sensor resolution not great (10MP)
doesn't contain selfie friendly screen
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Landscape Comparison

Olympus E-PL5 as a Landscape photography camera
Panasonic LX7 as a Landscape photography camera
74
focusing manually
switch lenses (Micro Four Thirds mount)
good sized screen (3 inch)
built in image stabilization (Sensor based)
MP count good (16MP)
good sensor size (Four Thirds)
great ISO range (25,600)
delivers RAW formats
no Timelapse recording
57
focusing manually
reasonably wide (24mm)
very good max aperture (f1.4)
screen size is decent (3 inch)
built in image stabilization (Optical)
exports RAW formats
better than average battery power (330 shots)
can't swap lenses (fixed lens mount)
sensor resolution not great (10MP)
small sensor size (1/1.7")
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Vlogging Comparison

Olympus E-PL5 Vlogging info
Panasonic LX7 Vlogging info
78
display is selfie friendly
touchscreen enabled
built in image stabilization (Sensor based)
offers face detection focus
video res high (1920 x 1080 pixels)
no external microphone support
33
reasonably wide (24mm)
very good max aperture (f1.4)
built in image stabilization (Optical)
has face detection autofocus
high res video (1920 x 1080 pixels)
doesn't contain selfie friendly screen
no external mic port
heavier than average (298g)
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Olympus E-PL5 vs Panasonic LX7 Specifications

Detailed spec comparison table for Olympus E-PL5 and Panasonic LX7
 Olympus PEN E-PL5Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7
General Information
Company Olympus Panasonic
Model type Olympus PEN E-PL5 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7
Class Entry-Level Mirrorless Small Sensor Compact
Announced 2012-09-17 2012-10-15
Body design Rangefinder-style mirrorless Compact
Sensor Information
Chip - Venus Engine
Sensor type CMOS CMOS
Sensor size Four Thirds 1/1.7"
Sensor dimensions 17.3 x 13mm 7.44 x 5.58mm
Sensor surface area 224.9mm² 41.5mm²
Sensor resolution 16 megapixel 10 megapixel
Anti alias filter
Aspect ratio 4:3 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9
Full resolution 4608 x 3456 3648 x 2736
Max native ISO 25600 6400
Max boosted ISO - 12800
Minimum native ISO 200 80
RAW support
Autofocusing
Focus manually
Touch focus
Continuous AF
AF single
Tracking AF
AF selectice
AF center weighted
AF multi area
Live view AF
Face detection focusing
Contract detection focusing
Phase detection focusing
Total focus points 35 23
Lens
Lens mount type Micro Four Thirds fixed lens
Lens zoom range - 24-90mm (3.8x)
Maximal aperture - f/1.4-2.3
Macro focusing range - 1cm
Amount of lenses 107 -
Crop factor 2.1 4.8
Screen
Screen type Tilting Fixed Type
Screen diagonal 3 inch 3 inch
Resolution of screen 460k dot 920k dot
Selfie friendly
Liveview
Touch display
Screen technology - TFT Color LCD
Viewfinder Information
Viewfinder Electronic (optional) Electronic (optional)
Features
Lowest shutter speed 60 seconds 60 seconds
Highest shutter speed 1/4000 seconds 1/4000 seconds
Continuous shooting speed 8.0 frames/s 11.0 frames/s
Shutter priority
Aperture priority
Manually set exposure
Exposure compensation Yes Yes
Change WB
Image stabilization
Built-in flash
Flash distance 7.00 m (bundled FL-LM1) 8.50 m
Flash modes Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Fill-in, Slow Sync, Manual (3 levels) Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Slow Sync
Hot shoe
AE bracketing
White balance bracketing
Highest flash sync 1/250 seconds -
Exposure
Multisegment exposure
Average exposure
Spot exposure
Partial exposure
AF area exposure
Center weighted exposure
Video features
Video resolutions 1920 x 1080 (30 fps), 1280 x 720 (30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps) 1920 x 1080 (60, 50, 30, 25 fps), 1280 x 720p (60, 50, 30, 25 fps), 640 x 480 (30, 25 fps)
Max video resolution 1920x1080 1920x1080
Video file format MPEG-4, H.264, Motion JPEG MPEG-4, AVCHD
Mic jack
Headphone jack
Connectivity
Wireless Eye-Fi Connected None
Bluetooth
NFC
HDMI
USB USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
GPS None None
Physical
Environment seal
Water proofing
Dust proofing
Shock proofing
Crush proofing
Freeze proofing
Weight 325 grams (0.72 pounds) 298 grams (0.66 pounds)
Physical dimensions 111 x 64 x 38mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.5") 111 x 68 x 46mm (4.4" x 2.7" x 1.8")
DXO scores
DXO All around rating 72 50
DXO Color Depth rating 22.8 20.7
DXO Dynamic range rating 12.3 11.7
DXO Low light rating 889 147
Other
Battery life 360 shots 330 shots
Battery form Battery Pack Battery Pack
Battery ID BLS-5 -
Self timer Yes (2 or 12 sec) Yes (2 or 10 sec, 10 sec (3 images))
Time lapse recording
Type of storage SD/SDHC/SDXC SD/SDHC/SDXC, Internal
Storage slots 1 1
Pricing at launch $400 $400