Olympus E-PL5 vs Pentax ist DS2

Below is a thorough assessment of the Olympus E-PL5 vs Pentax ist DS2, one being a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the latter is a Advanced DSLR by competitors Olympus and Pentax. There exists a significant gap between the resolutions of the E-PL5 (16MP) and ist DS2 (6MP) and the E-PL5 (Four Thirds) and ist DS2 (APS-C) enjoy totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-PL5 was manufactured 7 years later than the ist DS2 and that is quite a sizable gap as far as technology is concerned. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-PL5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax ist DS2 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before diving through a thorough comparison, below is a concise overview of how the E-PL5 scores vs the ist DS2 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL5 and Pentax ist DS2. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-PL5 Gallery and Pentax ist DS2 Gallery.

In case you're aiming to lug around your camera often, you should think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-PL5 comes with outer dimensions of 111mm x 64mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.5") accompanied by a weight of 325 grams (0.72 lbs) while the Pentax ist DS2 has dimensions of 125mm x 93mm x 66mm (4.9" x 3.7" x 2.6") with a weight of 605 grams (1.33 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-PL5 vs Pentax ist DS2 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you are working with at that moment. Following is the front view sizing comparison of the E-PL5 vs the ist DS2.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL5 and ist DS2 is 88 and 68 respectively.

Typically, it is difficult to envision the contrast between sensor measurements simply by reading through a spec sheet. The graphic underneath should offer you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL5 and ist DS2.

As you can see, both of these cameras offer different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-PL5 because of its tinier sensor will make getting shallower depth of field harder and the Olympus E-PL5 will give more detail due to its extra 10 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop photographs a little more aggressively. The newer E-PL5 is going to have an advantage when it comes to sensor technology.