Olympus E-PL9 vs Panasonic FP5

Let's look a little more in depth at the Olympus E-PL9 and Panasonic FP5, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Ultracompact by companies Olympus and Panasonic. The image resolution of the E-PL9 (16MP) and the FP5 (14MP) is very comparable but the E-PL9 (Four Thirds) and FP5 (1/2.3") provide different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL9 was manufactured 7 years after the FP5 which is a fairly large difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL9 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic FP5 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before getting straight to a detailed comparison, here is a brief overview of how the E-PL9 scores versus the FP5 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-PL9 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP5. The entire galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL9 Gallery & Panasonic FP5 Gallery.

If you're going to carry around your camera regularly, you'll need to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL9 provides exterior measurements of 117mm x 68mm x 39mm (4.6" x 2.7" x 1.5") and a weight of 380 grams (0.84 lbs) and the Panasonic FP5 has sizing of 101mm x 59mm x 18mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 0.7") having a weight of 141 grams (0.31 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-PL9 and Panasonic FP5 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you have at the time. The following is a front view over all size comparison of the E-PL9 against the FP5.

Considering size and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL9 and FP5 is 85 and 95 respectively.

In many cases, its difficult to imagine the gap in sensor sizes just by going through specifications. The pic here will provide you a stronger sense of the sensor sizing in the E-PL9 and FP5.

To sum up, the 2 cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-PL9 due to its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF simpler and the Olympus E-PL9 will provide greater detail due to its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also enable you to crop photos more aggressively. The younger E-PL9 should have a benefit in sensor tech.