Olympus E-PL6 vs Sony a5000

Olympus PEN E-PL6 vs Sony Alpha a5000: An Exhaustive Comparison for Entry-Level Mirrorless Enthusiasts

When selecting an entry-level mirrorless camera, the decision often comes down to balancing sensor capabilities, usability, lens ecosystem, and overall system versatility. Today, we delve deeply into two contemporaries announced in 2014 that competed for the same segment: the Olympus PEN E-PL6 and the Sony Alpha a5000. With over a decade testing and analyzing cameras, I bring a rigorous evaluation to this detailed head-to-head that spans all critical photographic disciplines and real-world scenarios. Whether you are a portrait enthusiast, nature photographer, budding event shooter, or travel kit builder, understanding the nuanced performance and ecosystem fit of each model is paramount.

First Impressions: Handling, Size, and Build Quality

Both the Olympus E-PL6 and Sony a5000 share a rangefinder-style mirrorless body, designed to be compact and approachable for newcomers, while offering enough manual controls for enthusiasts eager to learn.

Olympus E-PL6 exercises a classic Micro Four Thirds compactness, measuring 111 x 64 x 38 mm and weighing 325g (battery included). Its slightly bulkier form compared to the Sony a5000 is due to a more robust grip and a tilting touchscreen. The Sony a5000 tips the scales lighter at 269g and is a hair smaller (110 x 63 x 36 mm), making it even more pocket-friendly. While smaller can be beneficial for street and travel photography, the Sony’s thinner grip falls short in ergonomics for users with larger hands or those wanting extended shooting comfort.

Construction-wise, both cameras use plastic shells without environmental sealing, so caution in adverse weather is advised. Neither is shockproof, waterproof, or freezeproof, which is typical for entry-level models in this era. The Olympus’s more refined grip and button placement give it a slight edge in handling during protracted sessions.

Top Deck and Control Layout: Intuitive Usability vs Minimalism

Examining the top control surfaces reveals divergent philosophies between the two. The E-PL6 provides dedicated dials for exposure compensation, a mode dial, and a rear control wheel - all staples that photographers appreciate for quick manual adjustments without navigating menus. This design is especially advantageous for users transitioning from DSLRs or those shooting in manual priority modes regularly.

In contrast, the Sony a5000 adopts a minimalist approach, absent a mode dial altogether and largely menu-driven for settings access. Its single control dial and fewer direct buttons can frustrate photographers who prefer tactile feedback and quick control. This design sacrifices control speed for simplicity, making the Sony a5000 feel more geared towards point-and-shoot users or beginners less interested in manual modes.

For photographers investing time in learning exposure controls and manual adjustments, Olympus’s interface unquestionably streamlines the creative process.

Sensor Technology and Image Quality: The Heart of the Matter

The Sony a5000 sports a significantly larger APS-C sized sensor (23.2 x 15.4mm, approximately 357.3 mm²) with a resolution of 20 megapixels. This larger sensor area generally correlates to superior image quality - higher dynamic range, better low-light performance, and shallower depth of field options. The Bionz X processor harnesses this sensor with high efficiency for JPEG rendering and noise reduction.

Conversely, the Olympus E-PL6 fits a Four Thirds sensor (17.3 x 13mm, approx. 224.9 mm²) at 16 megapixels. While Micro Four Thirds sensors have improved greatly over time, they inherently gather less light due to smaller surface area - approximately 37% smaller than APS-C - resulting in reduced dynamic range and higher noise at comparable ISOs.

Technical metrics (DxOMark scores where available) are often absent for the Olympus E-PL6, but Sony’s a5000 scores around 79 overall, with a color depth of 23.8 bits and dynamic range near 13 stops - good values for entry-level APS-C cameras. Olympus’s sensor exhibits respectable, albeit more restrained, dynamic range and color fidelity.

In practical terms, this means the Sony a5000 will hold an advantage in landscape and night photography, retaining more highlight and shadow detail, producing cleaner high ISO images, and allowing more flexible cropping or large prints.

Autofocus Systems and Real-World Focusing Accuracy

Striking autofocus performance is critical across genres, especially wildlife, sports, and fast-paced street photography.

Both cameras rely predominantly on contrast-detection autofocus (CDAF), lacking phase-detection pixels on-sensor, which impacts focusing speed and tracking.

• Olympus E-PL6 boasts 35 focus points and incorporates face detection, continuous AF, and touch AF on its touchscreen. Its AF speed is peppy for casual shooting, but tracking moving subjects is modest, with occasional hunting, especially in low contrast or low light.

• The Sony a5000, with 25 AF points, including center-weighted detection, also supports face detection and continuous autofocus. Its algorithm leans slightly more toward precision than speed, with 4 fps continuous shooting limiting flash action capture, though it maintains solid focus in decent lighting.

Neither model supports advanced animal or eye autofocus tracking, a feature only emerging years later in mirrorless systems.

For fast wildlife or sports photographers, these cameras may feel limited. However, street shooters valuing accuracy over speed will find them decent, with the Olympus’s touch AF usability a unique convenience.

Image Stabilization and Lens Ecosystem: Stabilizing and Expanding Creativity

The Olympus E-PL6 includes sensor-shift image stabilization, a major advantage for handheld shooting across video and stills, significantly reducing blur at slower shutter speeds (useful for macro, low light, and travel situations). This internal stabilization helps compensate for camera shake regardless of lens stabilization.

The Sony a5000 lacks in-body stabilization, relying solely on lens-based Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). While the Sony E-mount lens lineup tabulates more than 120 options, including premium third-party lenses, many budget and compact primes lack OIS, necessitating faster shutter speeds or tripods to prevent blur.

Regarding lenses, Olympus’s Micro Four Thirds mount has long been praised for its extensive third-party and native lens options (around 107 lenses at the time), including unique compact primes, macro, and super telephoto options, with reliable optical quality. The 2.1x focal length multiplier effectively doubles the field of view, advantageous for telephoto and wildlife shooters on a budget.

Sony’s E-mount selection, although also deep, features a 1.6x crop factor, yielding slightly wider effective focal lengths than Micro Four Thirds equivalents, beneficial for landscapes and portraits but less so for distant subjects without larger lens investments.

LCD Screens and User Interface

Both models employ a 3-inch tilting LCD for live view composition, vital for creative angles and selfies. The Olympus E-PL6 features a touchscreen with 460k-dot resolution, enabling touch-to-focus and menu navigation - an intuitive benefit that enhances shooting fluidity, particularly for videographers or novice photographers.

The Sony a5000 uses a similarly sized 461k-dot TFT LCD that tilts upward 180°, useful for selfies, vlogging, or low-angle compositions. However, it lacks touchscreen capabilities, requiring reliance on physical buttons and dials for focusing and setting adjustments, which can slow operation in dynamic environments.

Neither camera includes an electronic viewfinder standardly, a compromise for saving weight and cost. An optional EVF for the E-PL6 can augment composition in bright sunlight but adds to total expense.

Burst Performance and Shutter Mechanics

With continuous shooting measures tailored mainly for casual use, neither camera is aimed at professional sports or high-action photography.

• The Olympus E-PL6 captures at a commendable 8 fps burst rate when using single autofocus - very respectable for an entry-level model, accommodating moments of decisive action well.

• The Sony a5000 manages 4 fps shooting, slower but steady, more suitable for occasional fast shooting rather than rapid-fire event coverage.

Both utilize mechanical shutters capped at 1/4000s, adequate for controlling bright light and motion freeze, but lack any silent electronic shutter modes, which some competitors introduced.

Video Capabilities: Vlogging and Beyond

Video remains a pivotal feature for many users entering mirrorless terrain.

• The E-PL6 can record Full HD 1080p video at 30 fps using MPEG-4 or Motion JPEG codecs. Its sensor stabilization benefits handheld video, reducing jitters significantly. Unfortunately, the camera misses external microphone input, limiting audio quality improvements, an important consideration for serious videographers.

• The a5000 steps up slightly with Full HD recording at 60i and 24p, supporting AVCHD and MPEG-4 formats. However, it also lacks microphone and headphone ports, and without in-body stabilization, shaky footage is more likely unless using OIS lenses or gimbals.

Neither model supports 4K or high-speed recording, unsurprising for the release period, but limiting for future-proofing.

Battery Life and Practical Usability

The Sony’s 420 shots per charge outlast the Olympus’s 360 shots, a notable difference for all-day excursions or extended shooting without spares. Both use manufacturer-specific lithium-ion batteries (BLS-5 for Olympus and NP-FW50 for Sony).

Both cameras use a single card slot supporting SD variants, with Sony adding Memory Stick Pro Duo compatibility - useful if you already own such cards but less relevant today.

Connectivity: Sharing Made Possible

Connectivity options are crucial for today’s sharing-centric workflows.

• Olympus uses Eye-Fi card compatibility, enabling wireless transfers via specific Wi-Fi capable SD cards, an indirect way to add wireless functionality.

• Sony a5000 integrates built-in Wi-Fi and NFC support, offering straightforward smartphone pairing and immediate image transfer via PlayMemories apps. This native wireless feature enhances workflow for social media enthusiasts and casual shooters.

Neither provides Bluetooth or GPS, limiting geotagging and persistent wireless control options that have become common in newer models.

In-Depth Photography Disciplines Assessment

To provide insightful genre-specific advice, here is a distilled narrative on both cameras' suitability for major photography types:

Portrait Photography

• Olympus E-PL6 benefits from sensor stabilization and a rich lens lineup offering fast primes with smooth bokeh, albeit with a smaller sensor limiting shallow depth-of-field effects.
• Sony a5000’s larger APS-C sensor produces more natural skin tones and enhanced background blur, desirable for emphasizing portraits. Its focusing system supports face detect but lacks advanced eye AF.

Landscape Photography

• Sony’s superior dynamic range and larger sensor sway the advantage firmly. The a5000 captures more nuanced tonal gradations and cleaner shadows.
• Olympus struggles slightly in retaining highlight detail, yet the extensive lens ecosystem offers versatile wide-angle options with excellent corner sharpness.

Wildlife Photography

• Olympus's sensor stabilization paired with a 2.1x crop factor aids telephoto reach without investment in large lenses. However, autofocus speed is average.
• Sony offers faster sensor readout but a slower burst rate and smaller focal length multiplier may require heavier lenses for comparable reach.

Sports Photography

• Neither camera targets fast sports photography. The Olympus’s higher fps (8 vs 4) is welcome, but lack of phase-detection AF limits tracking.
• Sony’s slower burst rate and minimal AF points make it less suitable.

Street Photography

• Sony’s diminutive size and lighter weight favor mobility and discrete shooting. However, Olympus’s touchscreen AF and better grip enhance quick reactions in dynamic street scenarios.

Macro Photography

• Olympus’s sensor-shift stabilization and precise AF via touchscreen assist macro focus accuracy.
• Sony’s lack of stabilization and fewer native macro lenses reduce flexibility here.

Night and Astro Photography

• Sony’s larger sensor and lower noise at high ISO translate to cleaner dark-sky captures.
• Olympus can perform but entails more aggressive noise reduction sacrificing fine detail.

Video Work

• Both provide Full HD but limited to 30p (Olympus) and 60i/24p (Sony). Olympus's in-body stabilization noticeably improves handheld footage.
• Absence of audio inputs constrains professional audio solutions for both.

Travel Photography

• Sony excels in battery life, size, and wireless connectivity - key travel priorities.
• Olympus provides better handling and stabilization, crucial for handheld and diverse conditions but at slightly higher weight.

Professional Workflow Integration

• Sony supports AVCHD and Better JPEG processing, while Olympus uses Motion JPEG, which requires more storage.
• Both support RAW and custom white balance.
• Lack of weather sealing limits professional outdoor reliability.

Sample Visual Comparison

Below are side-by-side samples from each camera showcasing their unique color science and image rendering in daylight conditions:

Olympus E PL6 front Olympus E PL6 screen back Sony a5000 screen back

Performance Summary and Benchmarks

To summarize overall scoring by critical metrics:

Notably, Sony's a5000 scores better in raw image quality and battery life, while Olympus is stronger in burst shooting speed and image stabilization.

This genre breakdown clearly shows Sony’s dominance in landscapes and portraits, and Olympus holding edges in stabilization-reliant macro and casual sports shooting.

Final Thoughts: Which Should You Choose?

Choosing between these two entry-level mirrorless cameras hinges on your primary photographic interests, ergonomic preferences, and ecosystem investment.

Choose the Olympus E-PL6 if:

• You prioritize in-body image stabilization that benefits handheld stills and video.
• You want more tactile controls and faster burst rates for sporadic action shots.
• You favor a touchscreen interface for quick AF and menu navigation.
• You desire a robust Micro Four Thirds lens ecosystem with many compact lens options.
• You prefer a better grip for extended handheld shooting.

Choose the Sony a5000 if:

• You want superior image quality with a larger APS-C sensor for landscapes, portraits, and low light.
• You favor compact and lightweight design for travel and street shooting.
• Wireless connectivity and NFC integration are important for instant sharing.
• Longer battery life is essential for all-day use.
• You're building a kit around Sony’s expansive E-mount lens options with better wide-angle choices.

Both cameras deliver meaningful introductions to the mirrorless world, but the Sony a5000 leans toward image quality and portability, while the Olympus E-PL6 leans toward handling, stabilization, and manual control.

Ultimately, your workflow, lens choices, and shooting style will determine the best fit. This comprehensive comparison aims to empower you with the nuanced insights gathered from hands-on testing to confidently weigh your decision.

For a detailed breakdown and continued updates on modern mirrorless developments, stay tuned to expert reviews and tests from seasoned pros who prioritize photographic outcomes over marketing hype.