Olympus E-1 vs Sony H20

Following is a detailed assessment of the Olympus E-1 versus Sony H20, one is a Pro DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There is a big difference between the resolutions of the E-1 (5MP) and H20 (10MP) and the E-1 (Four Thirds) and H20 (1/2.3") come with different sensor measurements.

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The E-1 was manufactured 6 years before the H20 which is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Each of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-1 being a Large SLR camera and the Sony H20 being a Compact camera.

Before going through a more detailed comparison, below is a short synopsis of how the E-1 matches up versus the H20 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-1 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H20. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-1 Gallery and Sony H20 Gallery.

If you're going to carry around your camera frequently, you're going to have to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-1 comes with exterior dimensions of 141mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.2") having a weight of 735 grams (1.62 lbs) and the Sony H20 has dimensions of 107mm x 69mm x 47mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.9") accompanied by a weight of 250 grams (0.55 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-1 versus Sony H20 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you choose at that moment. Following is the front view sizing comparison of the E-1 and the H20.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the E-1 and H20 is 59 and 87 respectively.

Usually, it is very difficult to imagine the difference between sensor sizes merely by checking specs. The picture below may give you a more clear sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-1 and H20.

As you can plainly see, both the cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-1 because of its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field simpler and the Sony H20 will give greater detail due to its extra 5 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also enable you to crop images a little more aggressively. The more aged E-1 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor technology.