Olympus E-PL7 vs Sony A100

Let's look closer at the Olympus E-PL7 vs Sony A100, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a considerable difference among the resolutions of the E-PL7 (16MP) and A100 (10MP) and the E-PL7 (Four Thirds) and A100 (APS-C) come with different sensor dimensions.

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The E-PL7 was announced 8 years later than the A100 and that is a fairly large difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL7 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A100 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving in to a in depth comparison, below is a simple summation of how the E-PL7 matches up vs the A100 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN E-PL7 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A100. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL7 Gallery & Sony A100 Gallery.

In case you're going to lug around your camera frequently, you need to factor in its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-PL7 has external dimensions of 115mm x 67mm x 38mm (4.5" x 2.6" x 1.5") with a weight of 357 grams (0.79 lbs) whilst the Sony A100 has proportions of 133mm x 95mm x 71mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 2.8") accompanied by a weight of 638 grams (1.41 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-PL7 vs Sony A100 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you use at that time. Following is the front view measurement comparison of the E-PL7 compared to the A100.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability rating of the E-PL7 and A100 is 86 and 64 respectively.

Oftentimes, it is hard to picture the gap in sensor measurements purely by going through specs. The photograph underneath will help give you a clearer sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL7 and A100.

All in all, both of the cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-PL7 having a smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field trickier and the Olympus E-PL7 will show more detail with its extra 6MP. Higher resolution will also help you crop photographs somewhat more aggressively. The fresher E-PL7 provides an edge when it comes to sensor technology.