Olympus PEN E-P1 vs Sony Alpha NEX-5N

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PEN E-P1 compared with Alpha NEX-5N

	OlympusPEN E-P1	SonyAlpha NEX-5N
Overview
Released
Released	July 2009	September 2011
Image and sensor
Camera type
Camera type	Mirrorless	Mirrorless
Sensor format
Sensor format	Four Thirds	APS-C
Sensor type
Sensor type	High-speed Live MOS	Exmor APS HD CMOS
Sensor dimensions
Sensor dimensions	17.3 × 13 mm	23.5 × 15.6 mm
Effective resolution
Effective resolution	12.3 MP	16.1 MP
Largest image
Largest image	4032 × 3024	4912 × 3264
RAW recording
RAW recording	Yes	Yes
Standard ISO range
Standard ISO range	100–6400	100–25600
Sensor detail
Sensor detail	4/3-type Live MOS; approximately 13.1 million total photosites, 4:3 aspect ratio; Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction	16.7 million total pixels; charge-protection coating and ultrasonic vibration for dust reduction
Image formats
Image formats	12-bit losslessly compressed RAW, JPEG and RAW+JPEG; sRGB and Adobe RGB. Aspect options 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and 6:6; JPEG cropped to selected ratio while RAW records aspect metadata	JPEG, RAW and RAW+JPEG; ARW 2.2; MPO for 3D Sweep Panorama
ISO detail
ISO detail	Manual ISO 100–6400 in 1/3 or 1 EV steps; automatic ISO 200–6400 customisable, default 200–1600	Standard ISO 100–25600; Auto ISO 100–3200
Image processor
Image processor	TruePic V	BIONZ
Lens and shooting
Lens mount
Lens mount	Micro Four Thirds	Sony E-mount
Stabilisation
Stabilisation	Sensor shift	Optical lens stabilisation
Maximum continuous burst
Maximum continuous burst	3 fps	10 fps
Lens detail
Lens detail	Lens kit includes M.Zuiko Digital ED 14–42mm F3.5–5.6; pancake kit 17mm F2.8 and VF-1 optical finder. These interchangeable kit lenses are not built-in camera specifications	E-mount; launch kits use E 18–55mm F3.5–5.6 OSS and/or E 16mm F2.8; the later double-zoom kit adds E 55–210mm F4.5–6.3 OSS. Optional LA-EA2 provides phase-detection AF for compatible A-mount lenses.
Autofocus
Autofocus	Eleven-area contrast-detection High-Speed Imager AF; single AF, continuous AF, manual focus and single AF plus manual override. Live View magnification 7× or 10×. Adapted Four Thirds lenses operate single AF when continuous AF is selected	Contrast detection with 25 points; single or continuous AF, direct manual focus and manual focus; object tracking, touch focus and focus peaking
Shutter
Shutter	Electronically controlled focal-plane shutter, 60–1/4000 second; Bulb up to 30 minutes, default eight minutes. Optional RM-UC1 wired remote supports Bulb control; Anti-Shock delay 1/8–30 seconds	Vertical-traverse focal-plane shutter with switchable electronic first curtain; 30 seconds to 1/4000 second plus Bulb; flash sync 1/160 second
Burst detail
Burst detail	Maker continuous rate approximately 3 fps. Buffer approximately 10 RAW or 12 large-normal JPEG under maker conditions with Toshiba Super High Speed Class 6 4 GB card; JPEG count depends on resolution and compression	Approximately 10 fps Speed Priority Continuous with focus and exposure fixed at the first frame. Sony specifies approximately 3 fps normal continuous advance and buffers of 10 JPEG, 6 RAW or 4 RAW+JPEG images under its stated conditions.
Stabilisation detail
Stabilisation detail	Sensor shift for stills, with normal and horizontal/vertical panning modes and manual focal-length input for adapted lenses. Maker claims up to 4 EV depending on lens and shooting conditions. Movie mode uses electronic correction with a slight crop	No sensor-shift stabilisation (PhotographyBlog and CameraLabs); optical correction requires a compatible OSS lens
Flash
Flash	No built-in flash; hot shoe supports FL-50R, FL-36R, FL-20 and FL-14. Flash synchronisation 1/180 second or slower; external flash compensation ±3 EV	Supplied HVL-F7S detachable flash; guide number 7 at ISO 100 in metres; approximately four-second recycle time
Exposure controls
Exposure controls	iAUTO, Program with shift, aperture priority, shutter priority, Manual, scene modes and six Art Filters. 324-zone digital ESP, centre-weighted and spot metering with highlight/shadow options; ±3 EV compensation. Two-axis level gauge; two My Mode settings	Intelligent Auto and PASM; Photo Creativity Touch, Picture Effects, 2D/3D Sweep Panorama, DRO, Auto HDR and multi-exposure low-light modes
Video
Highest video resolution
Highest video resolution	1280 × 720 at 30 fps	1920 × 1080 at 60 fps
Video detail
Video detail	AVI Motion JPEG at 30 fps: 1280 × 720, 16:9, or 640 × 480, 4:3. Maximum individual recording approximately seven minutes HD or fourteen minutes VGA. Certain Art Filters lower the frame rate	Japanese model records AVCHD 2.0 Full HD at 60p up to 28 Mbps, 60i or 24p; PAL-region models offer 50p (CameraLabs). Manual aperture and shutter control is available during recording. MP4 offers 1440 × 1080 or VGA; interlaced field rates are separate from full-frame rates.
Audio
Audio	Built-in stereo microphone and mono playback speaker. Stereo linear PCM, 16-bit 44.1 kHz, WAVE format; still-photo audio recording up to thirty seconds	Built-in stereo microphones; wind-noise filter; Dolby Digital or AAC-LC; proprietary accessory microphone support
Screen and viewfinder
Viewfinder
Viewfinder	None	None
Screen size
Screen size	3″	3″
Screen dots
Screen dots	230,000	921,600
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	–	Yes
Tilting screen
Tilting screen	No	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	Fixed HyperCrystal LCD with 100% Live View coverage, ±7-step brightness and colour-temperature adjustment	Capacitive TruBlack touchscreen; tilts approximately 80° up and 45° down
Viewfinder detail
Viewfinder detail	No built-in finder; optional VF-1 optical finder supplied with the 17mm pancake kit uses the hot shoe, so cannot be fitted simultaneously with a shoe-mounted flash	No built-in finder; optional FDA-EV1S OLED electronic finder uses Smart Accessory Terminal 2
Connections and design
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	300 photographs	430 photographs
Body weight
Body weight	335 g	210 g (better)
Release detail
Release detail	Olympus support dates E-P1 to July 2009. The Japanese 16 June announcement schedules lens and pancake kits for 3 July, and made-to-order body-only versions for late July; month precision represents the model rather than assigning the kit day to every configuration	Sony Japan specifies 9 September 2011 for the body, NEX-5NK zoom kit and NEX-5ND double-lens kit; the later NEX-5NY double-zoom kit followed on 18 May 2012.
Recording media
Recording media	SD and SDHC memory cards	Memory Stick PRO Duo and PRO-HG Duo; SD, SDHC and SDXC
Ports
Ports	Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and selectable NTSC/PAL analogue AV through proprietary multi-connector; same connector accepts RM-UC1 wired remote. Mini HDMI Type C provides HD video and stereo audio; flash hot shoe	USB 2.0 Hi-Speed, Mini HDMI Type C and Smart Accessory Terminal 2
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	BLS-1 rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Maker CIPA claim approximately 300 photographs using BLS-1 and Toshiba Class 6 4 GB SDHC card	NP-FW50; Sony's Japanese launch sheet specifies approximately 430 CIPA photographs. CameraLabs gives 410 shots; the maker's launch figure is used here.
Charging
Charging	–	Supplied BC-VW1 external charger; optional AC-PW20AM power supply
Dimensions
Dimensions	120.5 × 70 × 35 mm (width × height × depth), excluding protrusions	Approximately 110.8 × 58.8 × 38.2 mm (width × height × depth); 23.3 mm thinnest section excludes grip and mount
Weight detail
Weight detail	Approximately 335 g body only, excluding battery, card and lens	Approximately 210 g camera only; 269 g including battery and Memory Stick PRO Duo; lens excluded
Materials
Materials	Metal exterior; silver version has hairline finishing	Magnesium-alloy front and top covers
Colours
Colours	Silver and white	Black body; black, silver or white kits in Japan
In the box
In the box	–	NP-FW50 battery, BC-VW1 charger, USB cable, detachable flash and case, lens cap, shoulder strap and software CD; lenses depend on kit