Olympus E-PL5 vs Pentax E70

The following is a extensive review of the Olympus E-PL5 and Pentax E70, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by companies Olympus and Pentax. There is a crucial difference among the resolutions of the E-PL5 (16MP) and E70 (10MP) and the E-PL5 (Four Thirds) and E70 (1/2.3") posses different sensor sizing.

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The E-PL5 was introduced 3 years after the E70 which is a fairly serious gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax E70 being a Compact camera.

Before diving right into a thorough comparison, here is a simple highlight of how the E-PL5 matches up vs the E70 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

The following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN E-PL5 and Pentax Optio E70. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL5 Gallery and Pentax E70 Gallery.

For those who are intending to travel with your camera often, you need to think about its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-PL5 offers exterior dimensions of 111mm x 64mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.5") having a weight of 325 grams (0.72 lbs) while the Pentax E70 has proportions of 94mm x 61mm x 26mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 1.0") accompanied by a weight of 175 grams (0.39 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-PL5 and Pentax E70 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you use at that moment. Below is a front view dimension comparison of the E-PL5 and the E70.

Considering size and weight, the portability score of the E-PL5 and E70 is 88 and 94 respectively.

Oftentimes, it is tough to picture the gap in sensor dimensions merely by researching technical specs. The picture below may offer you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL5 and E70.

As you have seen, both of those cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL5 with its bigger sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF simpler and the Olympus E-PL5 will provide you with more detail using its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop photographs more aggressively. The fresher E-PL5 should have an advantage in sensor tech.