Olympus E-PL9 vs Sony A290

Its time to look more closely at the Olympus E-PL9 versus Sony A290, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the E-PL9 (16MP) and the A290 (14MP) is fairly close but the E-PL9 (Four Thirds) and A290 (APS-C) have different sensor sizes.

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The E-PL9 was unveiled 7 years after the A290 which is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL9 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A290 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving straight to a in-depth comparison, here is a short summary of how the E-PL9 scores against the A290 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-PL9 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A290. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL9 Gallery & Sony A290 Gallery.

In case you're aiming to carry around your camera often, you'll need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-PL9 offers physical dimensions of 117mm x 68mm x 39mm (4.6" x 2.7" x 1.5") having a weight of 380 grams (0.84 lbs) whilst the Sony A290 has measurements of 128mm x 97mm x 86mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 3.4") along with a weight of 549 grams (1.21 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-PL9 versus Sony A290 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you select at that moment. Here is a front view physical size comparison of the E-PL9 against the A290.

Looking at size and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL9 and A290 is 85 and 66 respectively.

Generally, it is difficult to picture the contrast in sensor sizes simply by researching a spec sheet. The picture below will provide you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL9 and A290.

As you can see, each of these cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-PL9 with its smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallower depth of field tougher and the Olympus E-PL9 will result in greater detail having an extra 2MP. Greater resolution can also allow you to crop images more aggressively. The more recent E-PL9 should have an edge in sensor tech.