Panasonic GX850 has a
16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine processor. On the other hand, Olympus E-PL1 has a
12.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Truepic V processor.
Another difference between these two cameras is that Panasonic GX850's sensor lacks anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moiré occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the GX850 and E-PL1 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Panasonic GX850 and Olympus E-PL1 Cameras
Panasonic GX850 and Olympus E-PL1 have the same sensor sizes so they will provide same level of control over the depth of field when used with same focal length and aperture. On the other hand, since Olympus E-PL1 has 29% larger pixel area (18.45µm 2 vs 14.21µm 2 ) compared to Panasonic GX850, it has larger pixel area to collect light hence potential to have less noise in low light / High ISO images.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
Both Panasonic GX850 and Olympus E-PL1 sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, GX850 has scored 73, 19 points higher than E-PL1.
Model
Overall
Color Depth
Dynamic Range
Low-light ISO
Panasonic GX850
73
23.2 bits
13.3 Evs
586 ISO
Olympus E-PL1
54
21.5 bits
10.1 Evs
487 ISO
Sensor size sets the circle of confusion, so it drives how much depth of field each
of these bodies gives you at a given aperture. You can calculate it exactly for the
Panasonic GX850
or the
Olympus E-PL1 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
