Olympus E-PL9 vs Panasonic FX78

Lets look more closely at the Olympus E-PL9 and Panasonic FX78, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the other is a Small Sensor Compact by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There is a sizeable difference between the image resolutions of the E-PL9 (16MP) and FX78 (12MP) and the E-PL9 (Four Thirds) and FX78 (1/2.3") posses different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL9 was unveiled 7 years after the FX78 which is quite a large gap as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL9 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic FX78 being a Compact camera.

Before getting straight to a comprehensive comparison, here is a concise highlight of how the E-PL9 matches up against the FX78 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-PL9 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX78. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL9 Gallery and Panasonic FX78 Gallery.

When you are aiming to travel with your camera often, you should consider its weight and size. The Olympus E-PL9 comes with external dimensions of 117mm x 68mm x 39mm (4.6" x 2.7" x 1.5") and a weight of 380 grams (0.84 lbs) whilst the Panasonic FX78 has specifications of 100mm x 55mm x 21mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 0.8") having a weight of 142 grams (0.31 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-PL9 and Panasonic FX78 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you have chosen at the time. Below is a front view measurements comparison of the E-PL9 versus the FX78.

Considering size and weight, the portability score of the E-PL9 and FX78 is 85 and 95 respectively.

Usually, it is hard to imagine the contrast between sensor dimensions purely by reviewing a spec sheet. The image here should provide you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL9 and FX78.

As you can see, both of those cameras have different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL9 having a larger sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field easier and the Olympus E-PL9 will offer extra detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also let you crop pics a bit more aggressively. The more modern E-PL9 should have an advantage in sensor technology.