Olympus E-PL7 vs Panasonic FS42

Its time to look much closer at the Olympus E-PL7 vs Panasonic FS42, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Ultracompact by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There is a substantial difference among the resolutions of the E-PL7 (16MP) and FS42 (10MP) and the E-PL7 (Four Thirds) and FS42 (1/2.5") posses totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-PL7 was revealed 5 years later than the FS42 and that is a fairly big difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL7 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic FS42 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before getting into a step-by-step comparison, here is a short summary of how the E-PL7 scores versus the FS42 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN E-PL7 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS42. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL7 Gallery & Panasonic FS42 Gallery.

For anybody who is intending to lug around your camera frequently, you're going to have to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-PL7 has got outer dimensions of 115mm x 67mm x 38mm (4.5" x 2.6" x 1.5") with a weight of 357 grams (0.79 lbs) and the Panasonic FS42 has measurements of 98mm x 55mm x 22mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 0.9") with a weight of 132 grams (0.29 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-PL7 vs Panasonic FS42 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you select at that time. Here is a front view size comparison of the E-PL7 vs the FS42.

Considering size and weight, the portability score of the E-PL7 and FS42 is 86 and 95 respectively.

Usually, its tough to envision the gap in sensor measurements merely by seeing specs. The graphic here will help offer you a more clear sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL7 and FS42.

All in all, each of the cameras have different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-PL7 using its bigger sensor will make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Olympus E-PL7 will provide more detail because of its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also allow you to crop shots a bit more aggressively. The younger E-PL7 is going to have an advantage with regard to sensor tech.