Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony A900

Its time to look a bit more in depth at the Olympus E-PL5 versus Sony A900, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the latter is a Advanced DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. There exists a big gap among the image resolutions of the E-PL5 (16MP) and A900 (25MP) and the E-PL5 (Four Thirds) and A900 (Full frame) offer totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL5 was manufactured 3 years after the A900 which is a fairly big gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A900 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before delving right into a thorough comparison, here is a brief summary of how the E-PL5 matches up versus the A900 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL5 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A900. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-PL5 Gallery and Sony A900 Gallery.

For those who are going to carry around your camera, you're going to have to factor in its weight and size. The Olympus E-PL5 features 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 Sony A900 has specifications of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") accompanied by a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-PL5 versus Sony A900 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you are utilising at that time. Following is a front view measurement comparison of the E-PL5 vs the A900.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL5 and A900 is 88 and 54 respectively.

Quite often, its hard to visualise the gap in sensor sizes merely by seeing specifications. The picture underneath should provide you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL5 and A900.

To sum up, each of the cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The E-PL5 because of its smaller sensor will make shooting shallower depth of field more challenging and the Sony A900 will produce more detail due to its extra 9 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also allow you to crop shots more aggressively. The more modern E-PL5 will have an edge in sensor tech.