Olympus E-PL6 vs Sony A550

Lets look a little more closely at the Olympus E-PL6 and Sony A550, one being a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the E-PL6 (16MP) and the A550 (14MP) is very similar but the E-PL6 (Four Thirds) and A550 (APS-C) provide different sensor sizes.

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The E-PL6 was introduced 4 years later than the A550 and that is quite a large gap as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-PL6 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A550 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving into a full comparison, here is a simple overview of how the E-PL6 grades vs the A550 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-PL6 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A550. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-PL6 Gallery and Sony A550 Gallery.

In case you're aiming to lug around your camera regularly, you need to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL6 enjoys 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) and the Sony A550 has sizing of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") and a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-PL6 and Sony A550 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you have chosen during that time. Below is a front view scale comparison of the E-PL6 against the A550.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability score of the E-PL6 and A550 is 88 and 63 respectively.

Generally, it is hard to visualize the gap between sensor measurements simply by reading technical specs. The graphic here will help provide you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL6 and A550.

As you have seen, both of those cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-PL6 with its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallower DOF trickier and the Olympus E-PL6 will offer more detail using its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop images a good deal more aggressively. The more recent E-PL6 provides a benefit in sensor tech.