Olympus E-400 vs Sony NEX-5N

Let's take a more detailed look at the Olympus E-400 and Sony NEX-5N, former is a Entry-Level DSLR while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There is a noticeable difference between the image resolutions of the E-400 (10MP) and NEX-5N (16MP) and the E-400 (Four Thirds) and NEX-5N (APS-C) provide different sensor sizes.

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The E-400 was released 6 years prior to the NEX-5N which is quite a sizable difference as far as tech is concerned. Both of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-400 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony NEX-5N being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going into a more detailed comparison, here is a brief summary of how the E-400 matches up versus the NEX-5N with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-400 & Sony Alpha NEX-5N. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-400 Gallery & Sony NEX-5N Gallery.

In case you're aiming to carry around your camera regularly, you're going to have to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-400 comes with outer measurements of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") accompanied by a weight of 435 grams (0.96 lbs) while the Sony NEX-5N has dimensions of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") with a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-400 and Sony NEX-5N in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are using at that moment. The following is a front view over all size comparison of the E-400 versus the NEX-5N.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability rating of the E-400 and NEX-5N is 77 and 89 respectively.

In many cases, it is hard to picture the contrast between sensor sizes just by reading through specifications. The image here will help give you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-400 and NEX-5N.

To sum up, both of these cameras have different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-400 featuring a tinier sensor is going to make achieving shallower DOF tougher and the Sony NEX-5N will resolve more detail as a result of its extra 6MP. Greater resolution will enable you to crop photos a bit more aggressively. The more aged E-400 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor tech.