Olympus E-400 vs Sony ZV-1

In this write-up, we are contrasting the Olympus E-400 vs Sony ZV-1, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the other is a Large Sensor Compact by competitors Olympus and Sony. There is a significant difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-400 (10MP) and ZV-1 (20MP) and the E-400 (Four Thirds) and ZV-1 (1") enjoy totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-400 was introduced 14 years before the ZV-1 and that is quite a sizable gap as far as tech is concerned. The two cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-400 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony ZV-1 being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before diving straight into a complete comparison, below is a simple summation of how the E-400 scores vs the ZV-1 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-400 and Sony ZV-1. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-400 Gallery and Sony ZV-1 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to lug around your camera often, you have to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus E-400 comes with outer dimensions of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") having a weight of 435 grams (0.96 lbs) whilst the Sony ZV-1 has sizing of 105mm x 60mm x 44mm (4.1" x 2.4" x 1.7") and a weight of 294 grams (0.65 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-400 vs Sony ZV-1 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you use at the time. Underneath is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-400 vs the ZV-1.

Looking at size and weight, the portability score of the E-400 and ZV-1 is 77 and 88 respectively.

Generally, it's tough to visualise the gap between sensor measurements purely by looking at specs. The visual here will offer you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-400 and ZV-1.

As you can plainly see, each of these cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-400 using its larger sensor will make shooting bokeh less difficult and the Sony ZV-1 will resolve more detail using its extra 10MP. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop images far more aggressively. The older E-400 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor tech.