Olympus E-PL7 vs Sony S950

Below is a detailed analysis of the Olympus E-PL7 and Sony S950, one being a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the other is a Small Sensor Compact by rivals Olympus and Sony. There exists a huge gap between the image resolutions of the E-PL7 (16MP) and S950 (10MP) and the E-PL7 (Four Thirds) and S950 (1/2.3") posses different sensor sizing.

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The E-PL7 was launched 5 years later than the S950 and that is quite a significant gap as far as technology is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL7 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony S950 being a Compact camera.

Before diving into a thorough comparison, here is a short introduction of how the E-PL7 grades against the S950 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-PL7 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S950. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL7 Gallery and Sony S950 Gallery.

For those who are planning to lug around your camera often, you need to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-PL7 has outside dimensions of 115mm x 67mm x 38mm (4.5" x 2.6" x 1.5") with a weight of 357 grams (0.79 lbs) while the Sony S950 has dimensions of 93mm x 56mm x 24mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") having a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-PL7 and Sony S950 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you are employing at the time. The following is a front view physical size comparison of the E-PL7 compared to the S950.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL7 and S950 is 86 and 94 respectively.

More often than not, it is tough to picture the gap between sensor measurements simply by looking at technical specs. The graphic below will provide you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL7 and S950.

As you have seen, both the cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-PL7 due to its larger sensor is going to make achieving shallower DOF easier and the Olympus E-PL7 will resolve extra detail utilizing its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop photos more aggressively. The newer E-PL7 provides a benefit when it comes to sensor innovation.