Olympus PEN E-PL1 vs Olympus PEN-F

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus PEN E-PL1 and the Olympus PEN-F, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Olympus PEN E-PL1 was introduced in May 2010 and Olympus PEN-F was introduced in January 2016. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus PEN E-PL1 over Olympus PEN-F.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus PEN-F over Olympus PEN E-PL1.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Olympus PEN E-PL1 has a 2.7" Fixed screen with 230k dot resolution and Olympus PEN-F has a 3.0" Fully Articulated screen with 1,037k dot resolution. Fully articulated screen makes Olympus PEN-F selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Olympus PEN-F also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality (available only on Olympus PEN-F) allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Olympus PEN-F has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 1.23x (0.62x 35mm equivalent) magnification.Olympus PEN E-PL1 does not have a built-in viewfinder but an optional electronic viewfinder can be attached.

Olympus PEN E-PL1 features a 12 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 224.9 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 3,200. Olympus PEN-F features a 20 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 25,600 and expands to 80 - 25,600 in boosted mode.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Olympus PEN E-PL1 is equipped with Truepic V processor and can take pictures up to 4032 x 3024 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3200 x 2400, 2560 x 1920, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480 with 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios. Olympus PEN-F is equipped with TruePic VII processor and can take pictures up to 5184 x 3888 resolution.

Lens Mount

Cameras have Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to their Micro Four Thirds sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 2x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 2.

In-Body Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when cameras are paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Olympus PEN-F

Olympus PEN-F has a built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n, 2.4 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Olympus PEN E-PL1 has a Mini type C HDMI and Olympus PEN-F has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus PEN E-PL1 comes with BLS-1 battery pack with battery life of 290 shots and Olympus PEN-F comes with BLN-1 battery pack with battery life of 330 shots.

External Storage Slots

Olympus PEN E-PL1 has a single SD/SDHC card slot. Olympus PEN-F has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Shutter speed can go up to 1/2000 sec on Olympus PEN E-PL1, and up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Olympus PEN-F. Olympus PEN E-PL1 can shoot continuously up to 3.0 fps. Olympus PEN-F can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps.

Flash

Olympus PEN E-PL1 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 10.00 m and also accepts external flash. Olympus PEN-F has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/160 sec on Olympus PEN E-PL1.

Olympus PEN E-PL1 body has dimensions of 115 x 72 x 42 mm (4.53 x 2.83 x 1.65") and Olympus PEN-F body has dimensions of 125 x 72 x 37 mm (4.92 x 2.83 x 1.46"). Olympus PEN E-PL1 weighs 334 g (0.74 lb / 11.78 oz) and Olympus PEN-F weighs 427 g (0.94 lb / 15.06 oz).

Olympus PEN E-PL1

Olympus PEN-F

115 mm

72 mm

125 mm

72 mm

72 mm

72 mm

42 mm

37 mm