Olympus PEN E-PL8 vs. Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Olympus PEN E-PL8 and Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1. Compare design, sensors, proximity features, memory capacities and other important specifications and features to easily choose the right camera for you. Our goal is to help you uncover differences between the products and find the digital camera that will best fit your needs.

Camera Specifications Comparison

Olympus PEN E-PL8 vs. Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Product Type Digital camera - 1080p - mirrorless system Digital camera - 8K - mirrorless system
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 6.83 cm 9.69 cm
Width 11.71 cm 12.89 cm
Depth 3.84 cm 8.08 cm
Weight 326 g 652 g
Weight Details Camera body only: 326 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 374 g
Camera with battery, memory card and M.Zuiko 14-42mm II R lens: 491 g
Camera body only: 652 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 737 g
Body Material - Magnesium alloy
Enclosure Colour Black | White Black
SENSOR Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Sensor Resolution 16.1 Megapixel 50.1 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type Live MOS Exmor RS CMOS
Total Pixels 17,200,000 pixels 50,500,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 16,100,000 pixels 50,100,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size Four Thirds (17.3 x 13.0 mm) Full Frame (35.9 x 24 mm)
Frame Rate (Max Resolution) 30 fps 30 fps
Sensor Dust Reduction Yes Yes
Sensor Features Supersonic Wave Filter (SWF) Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), Anti-Dust coating, APS-C compatible mode
Image Stabiliser Optical (3-axis image sensor shift mechanism) Optical (5-axis image sensor shift mechanism)
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser Yes Yes
PROCESSOR Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Image Processor TruePic VII BIONZ XR
LENS Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Lens Mounting Type Micro Four Thirds Sony E-mount
FOCUSING Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Auto Focus TTL contrast detection TTL contrast and phase detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 800 759
Auto Focus Features - Focus Peaking function
AE/AF Control Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF, Touch Area AF, Eye detection AF Subject-tracking AF, Eye detection AF, Predictive AI Servo AF, Zone AF
Face Detection Eye Detect AF Eye Detect AF, Pet Detection
VIEWFINDER Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Viewfinder Type - Built-in - electronic
Viewfinder Colour Support - Colour
Viewfinder Diagonal Size - 0.64"
Viewfinder Resolution - 9,437,184 pixels
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage - 100%
Optical Viewfinder Magnification - 0.9x
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range - -4 to +3
Field of View Crop Factor - 1.0
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
ISO (Max) 25600 102400
Native ISO 100-25600 -
Extended ISO (Max) - 102400
Extended ISO (Min) - 50
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-25600, ISO auto (100-25600) ISO 50, ISO auto, ISO 102400, ISO 100-32000
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, highlight spot, shadow spot Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, average, highlight-weighted
Exposure Metering Zones 324 1200
Exposure Modes Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority Bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority
Bracketing Modes Art Filter bracketing, focus bracketing, ISO sensitivity bracketing, white balance bracketing Dynamic Range Bracketing, white balance bracketing
Special Effects Sepia, Monotone, Neutral, Vivid, Custom Effect, soft focus, natural, Muted, Water Colour, Diorama, Cross Process, partial colour, Grainy Film, Light Tone, Pop Art, Pale & Light Colour, pin hole, Gentle Sepia, Dramatic Tone, Key Line, Vintage -
White Balance Custom, automatic, presets Custom, automatic, presets
White Balance Presets Incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, sunlight, Flash, shade, Underwater, 2000K - 14000K Incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, Flash, daylight, shade, Underwater, 2500K - 9900K
Shutter Type Electronic Electronic, mechanical electronically-controlled
Max Shutter Speed 1/4000 sec 1/32000 sec
Min Shutter Speed 60 sec 30 sec
Exposure Compensation ±5 EV range, in 1, 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps ±5 EV range, in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps
Auto Exposure Bracketing 7 steps in 1/3 or 2/3 EV steps -
White Balance Bracketing Yes -
X-sync Speed 1/125sec, 1/4000 sec 1/200sec, 1/500 sec, 1/400 sec, 1/250sec
Exposure Range EV -2-20 - wide lens (ISO 100) EV -3-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Type 3" LCD display 3" LCD display
Touch Screen Yes Yes
Display Format 1,037,000 pixels 1,440,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Folding Folding
Display Features Display brightness control, display colour control Display brightness control
FLASH Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Camera Flash Detachable flash -
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 10 -
Flash Modes Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction -
Red-Eye Reduction Yes -
Features AF illuminator, flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control -
External Flash Name Olympus FL-LM1 -
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Digital Video Format AVI, MJPEG, H.264, MOV H.264, XAVC S, H.265, XAVC HS
Image Recording Format JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG, MPO JPEG, RAW, MPF, HEIF
Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 7680 x 4320
Audio Signal Format - Linear PCM, AAC
Microphone Operation Mode Stereo Stereo
Microphone Features Wind noise reduction, sensitivity control -
MEMORY Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Memory Card Slot SD card Dual CFexpress / SD card
Supported Memory Cards SD Memory Card, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, SDHC UHS-I Memory Card, SDXC UHS-I Memory Card SD Memory Card, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, SDHC UHS-I Memory Card, SDXC UHS-I Memory Card, SDHC UHS-II Memory Card, SDXC UHS-II Memory Card, CFexpress
Memory Card Included No No
Image Storage RAW 4608 x 3456 - 17 MB
JPEG 4608 x 3456 - 7.5 MB
JPEG 4608 x 3456 - 3.5 MB
JPEG 2560 x 1920 - 1.1 MB
JPEG 1280 x 960 - 0.4 MB
8640 x 5760
5616 x 3744
4320 x 2880
5616 x 3744 - APS-C mode
4320 x 2880 - APS-C mode
7680 x 5760
4992 x 3744
3840 x 2880
4992 x 3744 - APS-C mode
3840 x 2880 - APS-C mode
8760 x 4864
5616 x 3160
4320 x 2432
5616 x 3160 - APS-C mode
4320 x 2432 - APS-C mode
5760 x 5760
3744 x 3744
2880 x 2880
3744 x 3744 - APS-C mode
2880 x 2880 - APS-C mode
Video Capture MOV - 1920 x 1080 p - 30 fps - 24Mbps
MOV - 1920 x 1080 p - 30 fps - 16Mbps
MOV - 1280 x 720 p - 30 fps - 12Mbps
MOV - 1280 x 720 p - 30 fps - 8Mbps
MJPEG - 1280 x 720 - 30 fps
MJPEG - 640 x 480 - 30 fps
XAVC HS - 7680 x 4320 p - 30 fps - 400Mbps
XAVC HS - 7680 x 4320 p - 24 fps - 400Mbps
XAVC HS - 7680 x 4320 p - 25 fps - 400Mbps
XAVC HS - 3840 x 2160 p - 24 - 120 fps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 24 - 120 fps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 24 - 120 fps
BATTERY AND CHARGING Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Battery Type Olympus BLS-50 Lithium Ion Sony NP-FZ100 Lithium Ion
Details Olympus BLS-50 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included) Sony NP-FZ100 Li-ion rechargeable battery - 2280 mAh (included)
Battery Life Photo shooting - 350 shots
Video recording - 2.5 hours
Photo shooting - 430 shots (LCD Monitor on)
Photo shooting - 530 shots (EVF on)
Video recording - 150 minutes (LCD Monitor on)
Video recording - 145 minutes (EVF on)
CONNECTIONS Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Interface Composite video/audio, HDMI, USB 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g/n HDMI, USB-C, NFC (Near Field Communication), IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0
Connectivity Features Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view
Print Standard DPOF support, Exif Print support, PRINT Image Matching Exif Print support, PRINT Image Matching
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe, PC terminal
Connector Type USB 2.0
Composite video/audio output
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
Microphone (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
Headphones (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
Network (RJ-45)
USB / AV output (micro-USB)
USB (USB Type-C)
FEATURES Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Self-Timer Delay 2sec, 12sec 10 sec, 2sec, 5 sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 3.7 frames per second, 8.5 frames per second, 7.4 frames per second 8 frames per second, 3 frames per second, 20 frames per second, 10 frames per second, 30 frames per second, 6 frames per second, 15 frames per second
HDR Mode Auto HDR mode, HDR post-processing -
Additional Features Audio recording, built-in speaker, auto power save, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, shadow point display, highlight point display, in-camera RAW processing, Full-time Live View, Intelligent AUTO (iAUTO), Eye-Fi Card Ready, Touch Shutter technology Built-in speaker, RGB primary colour filter, AE lock, AF lock, interval shooting mode, Dynamic Range Optimizer, USB charging, Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC), Intelligent AUTO (iAUTO), Clear Image Zoom, noise reduction over long exposures, Lens Distortion Correction, high ISO speed noise reduction, silent shooting, BRAVIA Sync function, PhotoTV HD, GPS via mobile, peripheral shading correction, Flickering Reduction function
OTHERS Olympus PEN E-PL8 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, eyecup, shoe cap, cable protector, USB-C to USB-A cable
Software Drivers & Utilities, Olympus Viewer 3 -
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature 0 °C 0 °C
Service & Support - Limited warranty - parts and labour - 1 year
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