Olympus E-400 vs Sony RX100 III

The following is a extended review of the Olympus E-400 and Sony RX100 III, one is a Entry-Level DSLR and the other is a Large Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a sizeable gap between the image resolutions of the E-400 (10MP) and RX100 III (20MP) and the E-400 (Four Thirds) and RX100 III (1") feature totally different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-400 was revealed 8 years prior to the RX100 III which is quite a large gap as far as technology is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-400 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony RX100 III being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before getting in to a detailed comparison, below is a concise summary of how the E-400 scores vs the RX100 III in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-400 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-400 Gallery and Sony RX100 III Gallery.

If you are going to travel with your camera frequently, you need to think about its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-400 comes with external dimensions of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") having a weight of 435 grams (0.96 lbs) while the Sony RX100 III has proportions of 102mm x 58mm x 41mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.6") and a weight of 290 grams (0.64 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-400 and Sony RX100 III in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you select at the time. Below is the front view size comparison of the E-400 versus the RX100 III.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-400 and RX100 III is 77 and 89 respectively.

Sometimes, it is very hard to envision the contrast between sensor dimensions purely by reading specs. The pic underneath will help offer you a more clear sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-400 and RX100 III.

As you can plainly see, the two cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-400 having a larger sensor will make achieving shallow DOF less difficult and the Sony RX100 III will deliver greater detail because of its extra 10MP. Greater resolution will also help you crop pics somewhat more aggressively. The more aged E-400 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.