Olympus E-420 vs Sony A9

Its time to look closer at the Olympus E-420 and Sony A9, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the other is a Pro Mirrorless by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a sizeable gap between the resolutions of the E-420 (10MP) and A9 (24MP) and the E-420 (Four Thirds) and A9 (Full frame) provide totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-420 was manufactured 9 years prior to the A9 and that is quite a large gap as far as technology is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-420 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony A9 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera.

Before delving right into a complete comparison, here is a short overview of how the E-420 scores versus the A9 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-420 and Sony Alpha A9. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-420 Gallery and Sony A9 Gallery.

For those who are looking to lug around your camera, you're going to have to take into account its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-420 offers exterior measurements of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") along with a weight of 426 grams (0.94 lbs) while the Sony A9 has proportions of 127mm x 96mm x 63mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 2.5") having a weight of 673 grams (1.48 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-420 and Sony A9 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you use at that time. The following is a front view dimension comparison of the E-420 against the A9.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-420 and A9 is 77 and 65 respectively.

Quite often, it is hard to envision the gap between sensor measurements only by reviewing a spec sheet. The graphic underneath should provide you a greater sense of the sensor sizing in the E-420 and A9.

As you can see, the 2 cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-420 because of its tinier sensor will make getting shallower DOF more challenging and the Sony A9 will deliver greater detail due to its extra 14MP. Greater resolution will enable you to crop images a bit more aggressively. The older E-420 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.