Olympus E-PL9 vs Pentax K100D S

The following is a thorough analysis of the Olympus E-PL9 and Pentax K100D S, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Olympus and Pentax. There is a large difference between the image resolutions of the E-PL9 (16MP) and K100D S (6MP) and the E-PL9 (Four Thirds) and K100D S (APS-C) use totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL9 was launched 10 years after the K100D S which is quite a serious difference as far as tech is concerned. The two cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL9 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax K100D S being a Compact SLR camera.

Before we go straight into a step-by-step comparison, below is a brief overview of how the E-PL9 grades against the K100D S in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-PL9 & Pentax K100D Super. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL9 Gallery & Pentax K100D S Gallery.

For anybody who is going to travel with your camera, you're going to have to think about its weight and size. The Olympus E-PL9 has external dimensions of 117mm x 68mm x 39mm (4.6" x 2.7" x 1.5") having a weight of 380 grams (0.84 lbs) and the Pentax K100D S has specifications of 129mm x 91mm x 71mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.8") accompanied by a weight of 646 grams (1.42 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-PL9 and Pentax K100D S in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you have chosen at that time. Following is the front view physical size comparison of the E-PL9 against the K100D S.

Considering size and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL9 and K100D S is 85 and 65 respectively.

Often, it is very tough to visualise the contrast between sensor dimensions only by going over specs. The image here may give you a stronger sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL9 and K100D S.

As you can plainly see, both of the cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL9 featuring a tinier sensor will make getting shallow depth of field harder and the Olympus E-PL9 will offer you more detail utilizing its extra 10 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop pics somewhat more aggressively. The fresher E-PL9 is going to have a benefit with regard to sensor technology.