Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony RX10 III

Below, we will be looking at the Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony RX10 III, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the latter is a Large Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Sony. The image resolution of the E-PL5 (16MP) and the RX10 III (20MP) is pretty similar but the E-PL5 (Four Thirds) and RX10 III (1") use totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL5 was released 4 years prior to the RX10 III which is quite a sizable gap as far as technology is concerned. Each of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony RX10 III being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before getting through a complete comparison, below is a simple view of how the E-PL5 matches up vs the RX10 III in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL5 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 III. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL5 Gallery and Sony RX10 III Gallery.

For those who are going to carry around your camera, you are going to need to factor its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-PL5 offers outside dimensions of 111mm x 64mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.5") and a weight of 325 grams (0.72 lbs) whilst the Sony RX10 III has proportions of 133mm x 94mm x 127mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 5.0") with a weight of 1051 grams (2.32 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony RX10 III in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you are utilising at the time. Below is the front view over all size comparison of the E-PL5 compared to the RX10 III.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL5 and RX10 III is 88 and 53 respectively.

Quite often, its difficult to envision the gap between sensor sizes merely by reviewing specs. The image underneath will help offer you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL5 and RX10 III.

All in all, each of the cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-PL5 because of its bigger sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field simpler and the Sony RX10 III will offer greater detail as a result of its extra 4MP. Higher resolution will make it easier to crop photographs much more aggressively. The more aged E-PL5 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.