Olympus E-300 vs Sony A55
67 Imaging
41 Features
31 Overall
37


67 Imaging
55 Features
80 Overall
65
Olympus E-300 vs Sony A55 Key Specs
(Full Review)
- 8MP - Four Thirds Sensor
- 1.8" Fixed Screen
- ISO 100 - 400 (Bump to 1600)
- No Video
- Micro Four Thirds Mount
- 624g - 147 x 85 x 64mm
- Released January 2005
- Also referred to as EVOLT E-300
- Renewed by Olympus E-330
(Full Review)
- 16MP - APS-C Sensor
- 3" Fully Articulated Display
- ISO 100 - 12800 (Push to 25600)
- Sensor based Image Stabilization
- 1920 x 1080 video
- Sony/Minolta Alpha Mount
- 500g - 124 x 92 x 85mm
- Announced August 2010
- Replacement is Sony A57

Olympus E-300 vs Sony A55 Overview
The following is a thorough overview of the Olympus E-300 and Sony A55, former is a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There is a substantial difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-300 (8MP) and A55 (16MP) and the E-300 (Four Thirds) and A55 (APS-C) feature totally different sensor measurements.

The E-300 was unveiled 6 years before the A55 which is quite a big difference as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-300 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony A55 being a Compact SLR camera.
Before going in to a detailed comparison, below is a simple introduction of how the E-300 scores vs the A55 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Olympus E-300 vs Sony A55 Gallery
Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-300 & Sony SLT-A55. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-300 Gallery & Sony A55 Gallery.
Reasons to pick Olympus E-300 over the Sony A55
E-300 | A55 |
---|
Reasons to pick Sony A55 over the Olympus E-300
A55 | E-300 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Announced | August 2010 | ![]() | January 2005 | Newer by 68 months |
Display type | Fully Articulated | ![]() | Fixed | Fully Articulating display |
Display dimension | 3" | ![]() | 1.8" | Larger display (+1.2") |
Display resolution | 921k | ![]() | 134k | Sharper display (+787k dot) |
Selfie screen | ![]() | Easy selfies |
Common features in the Olympus E-300 and Sony A55
E-300 | A55 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Manual focus | ![]() | More accurate focus | ||
Touch friendly display | ![]() | Neither contains Touch friendly display |
Olympus E-300 vs Sony A55 Physical Comparison
For those who are planning to travel with your camera frequently, you will have to factor in its weight and size. The Olympus E-300 has got outside dimensions of 147mm x 85mm x 64mm (5.8" x 3.3" x 2.5") along with a weight of 624 grams (1.38 lbs) while the Sony A55 has specifications of 124mm x 92mm x 85mm (4.9" x 3.6" x 3.3") with a weight of 500 grams (1.10 lbs).
Analyze the Olympus E-300 and Sony A55 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.
Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you are utilizing at that moment. Underneath is the front view sizing comparison of the E-300 compared to the A55.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability rating of the E-300 and A55 is 67 and 67 respectively.

Olympus E-300 vs Sony A55 Sensor Comparison
In many cases, its difficult to visualise the gap between sensor dimensions simply by checking a spec sheet. The picture below should offer you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the E-300 and A55.
Clearly, both the cameras have got different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The E-300 with its tinier sensor will make shooting shallower DOF harder and the Sony A55 will give you extra detail having an extra 8 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also help you crop photos much more aggressively. The more aged E-300 is going to be behind in sensor technology.

Olympus E-300 vs Sony A55 Screen and ViewFinder


Photography Type Scores
Portrait Comparison

Street Comparison

Sports Comparison

Travel Comparison

Landscape Comparison

Vlogging Comparison

Olympus E-300 vs Sony A55 Specifications
Olympus E-300 | Sony SLT-A55 | |
---|---|---|
General Information | ||
Brand Name | Olympus | Sony |
Model | Olympus E-300 | Sony SLT-A55 |
Alternate name | EVOLT E-300 | - |
Type | Advanced DSLR | Entry-Level DSLR |
Released | 2005-01-10 | 2010-08-24 |
Body design | Mid-size SLR | Compact SLR |
Sensor Information | ||
Processor | - | Bionz |
Sensor type | CCD | CMOS |
Sensor size | Four Thirds | APS-C |
Sensor dimensions | 17.3 x 13mm | 23.5 x 15.6mm |
Sensor surface area | 224.9mm² | 366.6mm² |
Sensor resolution | 8 megapixel | 16 megapixel |
Anti aliasing filter | ||
Aspect ratio | 4:3 | 3:2 and 16:9 |
Full resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 4912 x 3264 |
Max native ISO | 400 | 12800 |
Max boosted ISO | 1600 | 25600 |
Min native ISO | 100 | 100 |
RAW support | ||
Autofocusing | ||
Focus manually | ||
Touch focus | ||
Continuous autofocus | ||
Single autofocus | ||
Autofocus tracking | ||
Selective autofocus | ||
Autofocus center weighted | ||
Autofocus multi area | ||
Autofocus live view | ||
Face detection autofocus | ||
Contract detection autofocus | ||
Phase detection autofocus | ||
Number of focus points | 3 | 15 |
Cross focus points | - | 3 |
Lens | ||
Lens mount | Micro Four Thirds | Sony/Minolta Alpha |
Available lenses | 45 | 143 |
Crop factor | 2.1 | 1.5 |
Screen | ||
Screen type | Fixed Type | Fully Articulated |
Screen size | 1.8 inches | 3 inches |
Resolution of screen | 134 thousand dot | 921 thousand dot |
Selfie friendly | ||
Liveview | ||
Touch function | ||
Viewfinder Information | ||
Viewfinder | Optical (pentamirror) | Electronic |
Viewfinder resolution | - | 1,150 thousand dot |
Viewfinder coverage | - | 100% |
Viewfinder magnification | - | 0.73x |
Features | ||
Slowest shutter speed | 60 secs | 30 secs |
Maximum shutter speed | 1/4000 secs | 1/4000 secs |
Continuous shooting speed | 3.0fps | 10.0fps |
Shutter priority | ||
Aperture priority | ||
Manual exposure | ||
Exposure compensation | Yes | Yes |
Change white balance | ||
Image stabilization | ||
Built-in flash | ||
Flash range | - | 10.00 m (@ ISO 100) |
Flash modes | Auto, Auto FP, Manual, Red-Eye | Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Slow Sync, High Speed Sync, Rear Curtain, Fill-in, Wireless |
External flash | ||
AEB | ||
White balance bracketing | ||
Maximum flash sync | 1/180 secs | 1/160 secs |
Exposure | ||
Multisegment | ||
Average | ||
Spot | ||
Partial | ||
AF area | ||
Center weighted | ||
Video features | ||
Video resolutions | - | 1920 x 1080 (60, 29.97 fps), 1440 x 1080 (30fps), 640 x 424 (29.97 fps) |
Max video resolution | None | 1920x1080 |
Video data format | - | MPEG-4, AVCHD, H.264 |
Mic jack | ||
Headphone jack | ||
Connectivity | ||
Wireless | None | Eye-Fi Connected |
Bluetooth | ||
NFC | ||
HDMI | ||
USB | USB 1.0 (1.5 Mbit/sec) | USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) |
GPS | None | BuiltIn |
Physical | ||
Environment seal | ||
Water proof | ||
Dust proof | ||
Shock proof | ||
Crush proof | ||
Freeze proof | ||
Weight | 624g (1.38 lb) | 500g (1.10 lb) |
Dimensions | 147 x 85 x 64mm (5.8" x 3.3" x 2.5") | 124 x 92 x 85mm (4.9" x 3.6" x 3.3") |
DXO scores | ||
DXO All around score | not tested | 73 |
DXO Color Depth score | not tested | 23.0 |
DXO Dynamic range score | not tested | 12.4 |
DXO Low light score | not tested | 816 |
Other | ||
Battery life | - | 380 photographs |
Battery form | - | Battery Pack |
Battery model | - | NP-FW50 |
Self timer | Yes (2 or 12 sec) | Yes (2 or 10 sec) |
Time lapse recording | ||
Type of storage | Compact Flash (Type I or II) | SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Pro Duo/ Pro-HG Duo |
Storage slots | Single | Single |
Launch pricing | $800 | $800 |