Olympus E-PL8 vs Panasonic FP1

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Olympus E-PL8 and Panasonic FP1, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the other is a Ultracompact by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a crucial gap among the image resolutions of the E-PL8 (16MP) and FP1 (12MP) and the E-PL8 (Four Thirds) and FP1 (1/2.3") feature totally different sensor sizes.

Meta to Introduce 'AI-Generated' Labels for Media starting next month

The E-PL8 was revealed 6 years after the FP1 which is a fairly serious gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-PL8 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic FP1 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before going in to a more detailed comparison, below is a brief highlight of how the E-PL8 scores vs the FP1 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-PL8 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP1. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL8 Gallery and Panasonic FP1 Gallery.

When you are going to carry around your camera frequently, you will need to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL8 comes with outside measurements 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 FP1 has sizing of 99mm x 59mm x 19mm (3.9" x 2.3" x 0.7") and a weight of 151 grams (0.33 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-PL8 and Panasonic FP1 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you are utilising during that time. Below is the front view scale comparison of the E-PL8 versus the FP1.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-PL8 and FP1 is 86 and 95 respectively.

Normally, it is very hard to visualise the gap in sensor sizes simply by going through technical specs. The picture below should give you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-PL8 and FP1.

As you can tell, both cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-PL8 having a larger sensor will make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Olympus E-PL8 will produce extra detail because of its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop photos a little more aggressively. The more recent E-PL8 is going to have an advantage in sensor technology.