Olympus E-PL8 vs Pentax E90

Its time to look more closely at the Olympus E-PL8 and Pentax E90, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Compact by companies Olympus and Pentax. There exists a substantial gap among the resolutions of the E-PL8 (16MP) and E90 (10MP) and the E-PL8 (Four Thirds) and E90 (1/2.3") offer totally different sensor size.

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The E-PL8 was launched 6 years after the E90 which is a fairly big difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL8 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax E90 being a Compact camera.

Before going into a thorough comparison, here is a brief introduction of how the E-PL8 scores versus the E90 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-PL8 & Pentax Optio E90. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL8 Gallery & Pentax E90 Gallery.

When you are intending to carry around your camera frequently, you have to factor in its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-PL8 has outside measurements of 115mm x 67mm x 38mm (4.5" x 2.6" x 1.5") having a weight of 357 grams (0.79 lbs) and the Pentax E90 has proportions of 102mm x 59mm x 25mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.0") having a weight of 145 grams (0.32 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-PL8 and Pentax E90 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you have at that moment. Below is a front view physical size comparison of the E-PL8 vs the E90.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-PL8 and E90 is 86 and 94 respectively.

Normally, it can be difficult to envision the contrast in sensor sizes just by going through technical specs. The image here will help give you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-PL8 and E90.

As you can tell, the two cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The E-PL8 featuring a larger sensor will make getting shallower DOF easier and the Olympus E-PL8 will show extra detail utilizing its extra 6MP. Greater resolution will also enable you to crop pics a bit more aggressively. The younger E-PL8 will have a benefit in sensor tech.