Olympus E-1 vs Sony A350

Let's look much closer at the Olympus E-1 and Sony A350, one being a Pro DSLR and the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a sizeable gap between the image resolutions of the E-1 (5MP) and A350 (14MP) and the E-1 (Four Thirds) and A350 (APS-C) possess different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The E-1 was introduced 5 years prior to the A350 and that is quite a large gap as far as technology is concerned. The two cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-1 being a Large SLR camera and the Sony A350 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting straight into a complete comparison, below is a short summary of how the E-1 grades versus the A350 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-1 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A350. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-1 Gallery and Sony A350 Gallery.

In case you're going to lug around your camera often, you are going to need to think about its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-1 features external dimensions of 141mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.2") accompanied by a weight of 735 grams (1.62 lbs) while the Sony A350 has proportions of 131mm x 99mm x 75mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") and a weight of 674 grams (1.49 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-1 and Sony A350 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you are working with at that time. Underneath is the front view scale comparison of the E-1 against the A350.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-1 and A350 is 59 and 62 respectively.

Typically, it is tough to imagine the contrast between sensor measurements just by reviewing a spec sheet. The photograph here may provide you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the E-1 and A350.

As you can see, both of these cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-1 having a tinier sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field trickier and the Sony A350 will deliver more detail using its extra 9 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also let you crop pictures a little more aggressively. The older E-1 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.