Olympus E-3 vs Sony A6500

In this write-up, we will be evaluating the Olympus E-3 and Sony A6500, former being a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Advanced Mirrorless by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap between the sensor resolutions of the E-3 (10MP) and A6500 (24MP) and the E-3 (Four Thirds) and A6500 (APS-C) use different sensor measurements.

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The E-3 was released 9 years before the A6500 and that is quite a large difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-3 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony A6500 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before delving straight into a full comparison, below is a brief overview of how the E-3 scores against the A6500 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-3 & Sony Alpha a6500. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus E-3 Gallery & Sony A6500 Gallery.

For anybody who is intending to carry your camera frequently, you will need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-3 enjoys outside dimensions of 142mm x 116mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") with a weight of 890 grams (1.96 lbs) while the Sony A6500 has measurements of 120mm x 67mm x 53mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 2.1") along with a weight of 453 grams (1.00 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-3 and Sony A6500 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are using at the time. Underneath is the front view dimension comparison of the E-3 versus the A6500.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-3 and A6500 is 56 and 81 respectively.

More often than not, it is very hard to visualize the difference between sensor sizing simply by checking a spec sheet. The graphic here will help give you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the E-3 and A6500.

As you can see, both cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The E-3 featuring a tinier sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field trickier and the Sony A6500 will give you extra detail as a result of its extra 14MP. Higher resolution will let you crop photographs far more aggressively. The older E-3 is going to be behind with regard to sensor innovation.