Olympus E-PL7 vs Sony a5000

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Olympus E-PL7 vs Sony a5000, both Entry-Level Mirrorless cameras by companies Olympus and Sony. The image resolution of the E-PL7 (16MP) and the a5000 (20MP) is very close but the E-PL7 (Four Thirds) and a5000 (APS-C) posses different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL7 was revealed 8 months after the a5000 which means that they are of a similar age. Both cameras feature the same body design (Rangefinder-style mirrorless).

Before going straight to a in-depth comparison, here is a brief view of how the E-PL7 scores versus the a5000 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-PL7 & Sony Alpha a5000. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL7 Gallery & Sony a5000 Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to travel with your camera often, you have to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-PL7 provides outer measurements of 115mm x 67mm x 38mm (4.5" x 2.6" x 1.5") and a weight of 357 grams (0.79 lbs) whilst the Sony a5000 has dimensions of 110mm x 63mm x 36mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.4") and a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-PL7 vs Sony a5000 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are utilising during that time. Here is a front view proportions comparison of the E-PL7 compared to the a5000.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-PL7 and a5000 is 86 and 89 respectively.

Quite often, it's difficult to picture the difference in sensor dimensions simply by researching specs. The picture here will provide you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-PL7 and a5000.

As you can plainly see, each of the cameras feature different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL7 with its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallower DOF harder and the Sony a5000 will render extra detail because of its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop photos way more aggressively. The more modern E-PL7 provides a benefit when it comes to sensor innovation.