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Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550

Portability
88
Imaging
52
Features
72
Overall
60
Olympus PEN E-PL5 front
 
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W550 front
Portability
96
Imaging
37
Features
28
Overall
33

Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550 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
  • Released September 2012
Sony W550
(Full Review)
  • 14MP - 1/2.3" Sensor
  • 3" Fixed Display
  • ISO 80 - 3200
  • Optical Image Stabilization
  • 1280 x 720 video
  • 26-104mm (F2.7-5.7) lens
  • 110g - 94 x 56 x 19mm
  • Introduced July 2011
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Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550 Overview

Following is a comprehensive review of the Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Ultracompact by rivals Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the E-PL5 (16MP) and the W550 (14MP) is very well matched but the E-PL5 (Four Thirds) and W550 (1/2.3") come with different sensor size.

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The E-PL5 was announced 15 months after the W550 making the cameras a generation away from one another. Both of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-PL5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony W550 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before going in to a complete comparison, below is a simple synopsis of how the E-PL5 scores versus the W550 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

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Reasons to pick Olympus E-PL5 over the Sony W550

 E-PL5 W550 
IntroducedSeptember 2012July 2011More modern by 15 months
Manual focus Very exact focus
Display typeTiltingFixed Tilting display
Display resolution460k230kClearer display (+230k dot)
Selfie screen Easy selfies
Touch display Easily navigate

Reasons to pick Sony W550 over the Olympus E-PL5

 W550 E-PL5 

Common features in the Olympus E-PL5 and Sony W550

 E-PL5 W550 
Display sizing3"3"Equivalent display size

Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550 Physical Comparison

In case you're aiming to carry around your camera regularly, you will have to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL5 offers external 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 Sony W550 has sizing of 94mm x 56mm x 19mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.7") accompanied by a weight of 110 grams (0.24 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool. Camera Size Comparison with Lenses

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you have attached during that time. Below is the front view proportions comparison of the E-PL5 against the W550.

Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550 size comparison

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-PL5 and W550 is 88 and 96 respectively.

Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550 top view buttons comparison

Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550 Sensor Comparison

Quite often, it can be hard to visualize the contrast between sensor sizes purely by checking technical specs. The picture underneath will help provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL5 and W550.

As you can tell, both of these cameras offer different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The E-PL5 having a larger sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Olympus E-PL5 will resolve more detail with its extra 2MP. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop pics a little more aggressively. The more modern E-PL5 provides an edge with regard to sensor innovation.

Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550 sensor size comparison

Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550 Screen and ViewFinder

Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550 Screen and Viewfinder comparison
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Photography Type Scores

Portrait Comparison

Olympus E-PL5 Portrait photography factors
Sony W550 Portrait photography factors
71
has manual focus
decent sensor resolution (16MP)
decent sensor size (Four Thirds)
comes with face detection focusing
saves RAW files
28
decent megapixels (14MP)
focusing manually not possible
lack of manual exposure
no external flash support
sensor size is small (1/2.3")
has no RAW format
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Street Comparison

Olympus E-PL5 as a Street photography camera
Sony W550 as a Street photography camera
85
screen tilts up and down
built in image stabilization (Sensor based)
decent sensor size (Four Thirds)
saves RAW files
boasts touch to focus
very good high ISO (25,600)
57
image stabilization (Optical)
screen does not articulate
sensor size is small (1/2.3")
has no RAW format
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Sports Comparison

Olympus E-PL5 Sports photography information
Sony W550 Sports photography information
66
built in image stabilization (Sensor based)
decent sensor resolution (16 megapixels)
decent sensor size (Four Thirds)
comes with tracking autofocus
doesn't have phase detect AF
35
image stabilization (Optical)
decent megapixels (14 megapixels)
continuous shooting slow (1.0 frames/s)
no shutter priority mode
sensor size is small (1/2.3")
has no phase detect autofocus
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Travel Comparison

Olympus E-PL5 Travel photography advice
Sony W550 Travel photography advice
75
boasts touch to focus
decent sensor resolution (16 megapixels)
display is selfie friendly
does not have Time Lapse recording
65
decent megapixels (14MP)
has built in flash
reasonably wide (26mm)
missing Timelapse recording
screen is not selfie friendly
somewhat slow maximum aperture (f2.7)
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Landscape Comparison

Olympus E-PL5 as a Landscape photography camera
Sony W550 as a Landscape photography camera
74
has manual focus
swap lenses (Micro Four Thirds mount)
pretty good screen size (3 inches)
built in image stabilization (Sensor based)
decent sensor resolution (16 megapixels)
decent sensor size (Four Thirds)
very good high ISO (25,600)
saves RAW files
does not have Time Lapse recording
42
reasonably wide (26mm)
screen size is good (3 inch)
image stabilization (Optical)
decent megapixels (14MP)
focusing manually not possible
fixed lens (fixed lens mount)
somewhat slow maximum aperture (f2.7)
lack of manual exposure
sensor size is small (1/2.3")
has no RAW format
missing Timelapse recording
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Vlogging Comparison

Vlogging with Olympus E-PL5
Vlogging with Sony W550
78
display is selfie friendly
touchscreen
built in image stabilization (Sensor based)
comes with face detection focusing
video resolution high (1920 x 1080 pixels)
does not have external mic port
29
reasonably wide (26mm)
image stabilization (Optical)
somewhat slow maximum aperture (f2.7)
screen is not selfie friendly
low quality video (1280 x 720 resolution)
missing microphone port
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Olympus E-PL5 vs Sony W550 Specifications

Detailed spec comparison table for Olympus E-PL5 and Sony W550
 Olympus PEN E-PL5Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W550
General Information
Make Olympus Sony
Model type Olympus PEN E-PL5 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W550
Type Entry-Level Mirrorless Ultracompact
Released 2012-09-17 2011-07-24
Body design Rangefinder-style mirrorless Ultracompact
Sensor Information
Processor Chip - BIONZ
Sensor type CMOS CCD
Sensor size Four Thirds 1/2.3"
Sensor measurements 17.3 x 13mm 6.17 x 4.55mm
Sensor surface area 224.9mm² 28.1mm²
Sensor resolution 16MP 14MP
Anti alias filter
Aspect ratio 4:3 4:3 and 16:9
Highest resolution 4608 x 3456 4320 x 3240
Highest native ISO 25600 3200
Min native ISO 200 80
RAW files
Autofocusing
Focus manually
Touch to focus
Continuous AF
Single AF
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 9
Lens
Lens mount type Micro Four Thirds fixed lens
Lens zoom range - 26-104mm (4.0x)
Largest aperture - f/2.7-5.7
Macro focusing distance - 5cm
Total lenses 107 -
Crop factor 2.1 5.8
Screen
Screen type Tilting Fixed Type
Screen diagonal 3 inch 3 inch
Screen resolution 460 thousand dot 230 thousand dot
Selfie friendly
Liveview
Touch functionality
Screen tech - Clear Photo LCD
Viewfinder Information
Viewfinder type Electronic (optional) None
Features
Lowest shutter speed 60 seconds 2 seconds
Highest shutter speed 1/4000 seconds 1/1600 seconds
Continuous shooting speed 8.0 frames per second 1.0 frames per second
Shutter priority
Aperture priority
Manually set exposure
Exposure compensation Yes -
Custom WB
Image stabilization
Integrated flash
Flash distance 7.00 m (bundled FL-LM1) 3.80 m
Flash modes Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Fill-in, Slow Sync, Manual (3 levels) Auto, On, Off, Slow Sync
External flash
AEB
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) 1280 x 720 (30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps)
Highest video resolution 1920x1080 1280x720
Video format MPEG-4, H.264, Motion JPEG MPEG-4
Microphone 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 lbs) 110 grams (0.24 lbs)
Dimensions 111 x 64 x 38mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.5") 94 x 56 x 19mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.7")
DXO scores
DXO All around rating 72 not tested
DXO Color Depth rating 22.8 not tested
DXO Dynamic range rating 12.3 not tested
DXO Low light rating 889 not tested
Other
Battery life 360 images -
Battery form Battery Pack -
Battery ID BLS-5 NP-BN1
Self timer Yes (2 or 12 sec) Yes (2 or 10 sec, Portrait 1/2)
Time lapse feature
Type of storage SD/SDHC/SDXC SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo/Memory Stick Pro Duo, Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo
Storage slots One -
Pricing at launch $400 $119