Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs.
In this section, We are going to illustrate Sony a5100 and Olympus E-PL6 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions.
Below you can see the front view size comparison of Sony a5100 and Olympus E-PL6. Sony a5100 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 1mm narrower, 1mm shorter and 2mm thinner than Olympus E-PL6.
Here is the back view size comparison of Sony a5100 and Olympus E-PL6.
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Sony a5100 and Olympus E-PL6.
Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Sony a5100 is 42g lighter than the Olympus E-PL6 but we don't think this will make a significant difference.
Also keep in mind that body weight is not the only deciding factor when comparing two interchangeable camera bodies, you have to also take into account the lenses that you will be using with these bodies. Since Sony a5100 has an APS-C sized sensor and Olympus E-PL6 has a smaller Four Thirds sensor, Olympus E-PL6's lenses for a similar focal length and aperture will generally be lighter and smaller than the Sony a5100 lenses.
Weight Comparison
Mirrorless Cameras
Thickness Comparison
Mirrorless Cameras
Weather Sealing
Unfortunately neither Sony Alpha a5100 nor Olympus PEN E-PL6 provides any type of weather sealing in their body, so you have to give extra care especially when you are shooting outdoors. If weather sealing is a must-have feature for you, check these sections: Top Mirrorless Cameras with Weather Sealing
LCD Screen Size and Features
Sony a5100 and Olympus E-PL6's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3.
Sony a5100 has a 24.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor. On the other hand, Olympus E-PL6 has a 16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features TruePic VI processor.
Sony a5100's sensor provides 8MP more than Olympus E-PL6's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Below you can see the a5100 and E-PL6 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Sony a5100 has a 1.6x Larger sensor area than Olympus E-PL6. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
In this section, we rank and compare Sony a5100 and Olympus E-PL6 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.
Sony a5100 for Portrait Photography
Olympus E-PL6 for Portrait Photography
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 24.0MP
Average Ergonomics&Handling
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
Optional External Viewfinder
Average Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Sony a5100 for Street Photography
Olympus E-PL6 for Street Photography
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
Optional External Viewfinder
Medium sized Body
Read the details
Sony a5100 for Sports Photography
Olympus E-PL6 for Sports Photography
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
179 Focus Points
Good Low Light ISO
Wireless Connection
Average Ergonomics&Handling
Average Continuous Shooting: 6.0fps
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Fast Continuous Shooting: 8.0fps
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
35 Focus Points
Optional External Viewfinder
Average Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Sony a5100 for Daily Photography
Olympus E-PL6 for Daily Photography
Sony a5100 for Landscape Photography
Olympus E-PL6 for Landscape Photography
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 24.0MP
Live-view
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Number of available lenses is a big decision factor while choosing your interchangeable lens camera. When we look at the available lenses for these two cameras, we see that Sony a5100 has an advantage over Olympus E-PL6. There are 121 lenses for Sony a5100's Sony E (NEX) mount, on the other hand there are only 105 lenses for Olympus E-PL6's Micro Four Thirds lens mount.
Another important factor is the availability of image stabilization. Olympus E-PL6 has a big advantage in this regard because it has a sensor based image stabilization which means that all the lenses mounted to this body will be stabilized. On the other hand, Sony a5100 doesn't have this feature so you have to buy a lens with optical stabilization feature. Currently there are 30 lenses for Sony E (NEX) mount with Optical Image Stabilization features.
| Lens Type |
# of Sony a5100 Lenses |
# of Olympus E-PL6 Lenses |
| Standard Zoom |
11 |
15 |
| Standard Prime |
18 |
12 |
| Wideangle Zoom |
7 |
5 |
| Wideangle Prime |
39 |
29 |
| Telephoto Zoom |
9 |
17 |
| Telephoto Prime |
17 |
9 |
| SuperZoom |
8 |
8 |
| Wideangle Fisheye Prime |
2 |
5 |
| Macro Prime |
8 |
4 |
| Perspective Control Prime |
2 |
n/a |
| Telephoto Mirror Prime |
n/a |
1 |
| TOTAL |
121 |
105 |
You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Sony a5100 and Olympus E-PL6, below you can find their scores in five different aspects.
Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.
Here is a summary of how Sony a5100 and Olympus E-PL6 scores compare:
Sony a5100
Ranked
#29 out of 122 in Rangefinder-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#176 out of 1190 in all Cameras
Olympus E-PL6
Ranked
#54 out of 122 in Rangefinder-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#266 out of 1190 in all Cameras
Sony a5100 scores higher than the Olympus E-PL6 thanks to its better general imaging quality, compact size and higher value for the money. On the other hand, Olympus E-PL6 has some extra features which may become a game changer if you have some specific requirements.
We recommend you to read our detailed Pro's and Con's section and see if any Pro of Olympus E-PL6 is a must-have for you. If not, choose the Sony a5100.
| General |
Sony Alpha a5100 |
Olympus PEN E-PL6 |
| Brand |
Sony |
Olympus |
| Announced |
2014-08-17 |
2014-08-01 |
| Body Type |
Rangefinder-style mirrorless |
Rangefinder-style mirrorless |
Sensor |
|
|
| Type |
CMOS |
CMOS |
| Size |
APS-C |
Four Thirds |
| Dimensions |
23.5 x 15.6 mm |
17.3 x 13 mm |
| Area |
366.60mm2 |
224.90mm2 |
| Megapixels |
24 megapixels |
16 Megapixels |
| Max Resolution |
6000 x 4000 |
4608 x 3456 |
| Max Native Light sensitivity |
25,600 ISO |
25,600 ISO |
| Min Native Light sensitivity |
100 ISO |
100 ISO |
| RAW Support |
|
|
Autofocus |
|
|
| AF Touch |
|
|
| AF Continuous |
|
|
| AF Single |
|
|
| AF Tracking |
|
|
| AF Selective |
|
|
| AF Center |
|
|
| AF Multi Area |
|
|
| AF Live View |
|
|
| AF Face Detection |
|
|
| AF Contrast Detection |
|
|
| AF Phase Detection |
|
|
| Number of Focus Points |
179 |
35 |
Lens |
|
|
| Manual Focus |
|
|
| Lens Mount |
Sony E (NEX) |
Micro Four Thirds |
| Number of Available Lenses |
121 |
105 |
Screen |
|
|
| Type |
Tilting |
Tilting |
| Size |
3 |
3" |
| Resolution |
922k dots |
460k dots |
| Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
| Viewfinder |
None |
Electronic (optional) |
Photography Features |
|
|
| Max Mechanical Shutter |
1/4000s |
1/4000s |
| Shutter Priority |
|
|
| Aperture Priority |
|
|
| Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
| Custom White Balance |
|
|
| Image Stabilization |
No |
Sensor-shift |
| Built-in Flash |
|
|
| Flash Range |
4.00 m (at ISO 100) |
7.00 m (bundled FL-LM1) |
| External Flash |
|
|
| Continuous Shooting |
6.0 fps |
8.0 fps |
| Multi-Segment |
|
|
| Average |
|
|
| Spot |
|
|
| Partial |
|
|
| AF-Area |
|
|
| Center Weighted |
|
|
| AE Bracketing |
|
|
| WB Bracketing |
|
|
Video Features |
|
|
| Max Video Resolution |
1920 x 1080 |
1920 x 1080 |
| Video Formats |
MPEG-4, AVCHD, XAVC S |
MPEG-4, Motion JPEG |
| Microphone Port |
|
|
| Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
| Wireless Connectivity |
Built-In |
Eye-Fi Connected |
| HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
| Environmental Sealing |
|
|
| Weight |
283g |
325g |
| Dimensions |
110 x 63 x 36mm |
111 x 64 x 38mm |
| Battery Life |
400 shots |
360 shots |
Other Features |
|
|
| Timelapse Recording |
With Downloadable App |
|
| GPS |
None |
None |
DxO Sensor Scores |
|
|
| DxO Overall Score |
80 |
not tested |
| DxO Color Depth |
23.8 |
not tested |
| DxO Dynamic Range |
12.7 |
not tested |
| DxO Low Light ISO |
1347 |
not tested |
|
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