Olympus E-30 vs Sony A290

Its time to take a closer look at the Olympus E-30 vs Sony A290, former is a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the E-30 (12MP) and the A290 (14MP) is pretty close but the E-30 (Four Thirds) and A290 (APS-C) come with different sensor sizes.

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The E-30 was released 14 months prior to the A290 which makes the cameras a generation away from one another. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-30 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony A290 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before we go straight into a full comparison, below is a concise summation of how the E-30 matches up versus the A290 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-30 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A290. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-30 Gallery & Sony A290 Gallery.

When you are going to travel with your camera often, you are going to need to consider its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-30 offers exterior dimensions of 142mm x 108mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.3" x 3.0") along with a weight of 695 grams (1.53 lbs) and the Sony A290 has dimensions of 128mm x 97mm x 86mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 3.4") having a weight of 549 grams (1.21 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-30 vs Sony A290 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you are using at that moment. Below is the front view overall size comparison of the E-30 against the A290.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-30 and A290 is 60 and 66 respectively.

Sometimes, it's difficult to imagine the gap in sensor dimensions simply by researching technical specs. The picture underneath should give you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-30 and A290.

As you have seen, both the cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-30 featuring a smaller sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF more challenging and the Sony A290 will provide you with greater detail as a result of its extra 2MP. Higher resolution will enable you to crop photographs somewhat more aggressively. The more aged E-30 will be behind in sensor tech.