Olympus E-420 vs Sony A550
77 Imaging
44 Features
36 Overall
40
63 Imaging
53 Features
65 Overall
57
Olympus E-420 vs Sony A550 Key Specs
(Full Review)
- 10MP - Four Thirds Sensor
- 2.7" Fixed Screen
- ISO 100 - 1600
- No Video
- Micro Four Thirds Mount
- 426g - 130 x 91 x 53mm
- Released June 2008
- Earlier Model is Olympus E-410
(Full Review)
- 14MP - APS-C Sensor
- 3" Tilting Display
- ISO 200 - 12800
- Sensor based Image Stabilization
- No Video
- Sony/Minolta Alpha Mount
- 632g - 137 x 104 x 84mm
- Revealed December 2009
- Succeeded the Sony A100
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Let's look a little more in depth at the Olympus E-420 and Sony A550, both Entry-Level DSLR cameras by companies Olympus and Sony. There is a substantial difference among the resolutions of the E-420 (10MP) and A550 (14MP) and the E-420 (Four Thirds) and A550 (APS-C) posses different sensor size.
President Biden pushes bill mandating TikTok sale or banThe E-420 was released 17 months prior to the A550 making them a generation apart from each other. Each of these cameras have the same body design (Compact SLR).
Before going right into a full comparison, here is a quick view of how the E-420 grades versus the A550 for portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.
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Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-420 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A550. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-420 Gallery & Sony A550 Gallery.
Reasons to pick Olympus E-420 over the Sony A550
| E-420 | A550 |
|---|
Reasons to pick Sony A550 over the Olympus E-420
| A550 | E-420 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revealed | December 2009 |  | June 2008 | More recent by 17 months |
| Display type | Tilting |  | Fixed | Tilting display |
| Display dimensions | 3" |  | 2.7" | Larger display (+0.3") |
| Display resolution | 922k |  | 230k | Sharper display (+692k dot) |
Common features in the Olympus E-420 and Sony A550
| E-420 | A550 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual focus |  | More accurate focusing | ||
| Selfie screen |  | Neither comes with selfie screen | ||
| Touch friendly display |  | Neither comes with Touch friendly display |
Olympus E-420 vs Sony A550 Physical Comparison
For those who are intending to lug around your camera often, you'll have to factor in its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-420 comes with exterior dimensions of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") having a weight of 426 grams (0.94 lbs) while the Sony A550 has proportions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") accompanied by a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs).
Look at the Olympus E-420 and Sony A550 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.
Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you use at the time. Following is a front view physical size comparison of the E-420 vs the A550.
Factoring in size and weight, the portability grade of the E-420 and A550 is 77 and 63 respectively.
Olympus E-420 vs Sony A550 Sensor Comparison
Oftentimes, it's hard to picture the contrast in sensor measurements simply by checking out a spec sheet. The visual underneath should give you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-420 and A550.
Clearly, each of the cameras have different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-420 due to its smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF harder and the Sony A550 will provide more detail as a result of its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop images a bit more aggressively. The older E-420 will be behind in sensor innovation.
Olympus E-420 vs Sony A550 Screen and ViewFinder
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Olympus E-420 vs Sony A550 Specifications
| Olympus E-420 | Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 | |
|---|---|---|
| General Information | ||
| Manufacturer | Olympus | Sony |
| Model type | Olympus E-420 | Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 |
| Type | Entry-Level DSLR | Entry-Level DSLR |
| Released | 2008-06-23 | 2009-12-09 |
| Body design | Compact SLR | Compact SLR |
| Sensor Information | ||
| Powered by | TruePic III | Bionz |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | Four Thirds | APS-C |
| Sensor dimensions | 17.3 x 13mm | 23.4 x 15.6mm |
| Sensor surface area | 224.9mm² | 365.0mm² |
| Sensor resolution | 10 megapixels | 14 megapixels |
| Anti alias filter | ||
| Aspect ratio | 4:3 | 3:2 and 16:9 |
| Max resolution | 3648 x 2736 | 4592 x 3056 |
| Max native ISO | 1600 | 12800 |
| Lowest native ISO | 100 | 200 |
| RAW photos | ||
| Autofocusing | ||
| Manual focusing | ||
| Touch focus | ||
| Autofocus continuous | ||
| Single autofocus | ||
| Autofocus tracking | ||
| Autofocus selectice | ||
| Autofocus center weighted | ||
| Multi area autofocus | ||
| Live view autofocus | ||
| Face detection focus | ||
| Contract detection focus | ||
| Phase detection focus | ||
| Total focus points | 3 | 9 |
| Lens | ||
| Lens mount type | Micro Four Thirds | Sony/Minolta Alpha |
| Number of lenses | 45 | 143 |
| Crop factor | 2.1 | 1.5 |
| Screen | ||
| Range of screen | Fixed Type | Tilting |
| Screen sizing | 2.7" | 3" |
| Resolution of screen | 230 thousand dot | 922 thousand dot |
| Selfie friendly | ||
| Liveview | ||
| Touch capability | ||
| Viewfinder Information | ||
| Viewfinder | Optical (pentamirror) | Optical (pentamirror) |
| Viewfinder coverage | 95% | 95% |
| Viewfinder magnification | 0.46x | 0.53x |
| Features | ||
| Min shutter speed | 60 seconds | 30 seconds |
| Max shutter speed | 1/4000 seconds | 1/4000 seconds |
| Continuous shutter speed | 4.0 frames/s | 7.0 frames/s |
| Shutter priority | ||
| Aperture priority | ||
| Manual exposure | ||
| Exposure compensation | Yes | Yes |
| Change white balance | ||
| Image stabilization | ||
| Built-in flash | ||
| Flash distance | 12.00 m (at ISO 100) | 12.00 m |
| Flash modes | Auto, Auto FP, Manual, Red-Eye | Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Slow Sync, High Speed Sync, Rear Curtain, Fill-in, Wireless |
| Hot shoe | ||
| AEB | ||
| White balance bracketing | ||
| Max flash sync | 1/180 seconds | 1/160 seconds |
| Exposure | ||
| Multisegment exposure | ||
| Average exposure | ||
| Spot exposure | ||
| Partial exposure | ||
| AF area exposure | ||
| Center weighted exposure | ||
| Video features | ||
| Max video resolution | None | None |
| Mic input | ||
| Headphone input | ||
| Connectivity | ||
| Wireless | None | None |
| Bluetooth | ||
| NFC | ||
| HDMI | ||
| USB | USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) | USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) |
| GPS | None | None |
| Physical | ||
| Environment seal | ||
| Water proofing | ||
| Dust proofing | ||
| Shock proofing | ||
| Crush proofing | ||
| Freeze proofing | ||
| Weight | 426 grams (0.94 lbs) | 632 grams (1.39 lbs) |
| Physical dimensions | 130 x 91 x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") | 137 x 104 x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") |
| DXO scores | ||
| DXO Overall rating | 56 | 66 |
| DXO Color Depth rating | 21.5 | 21.9 |
| DXO Dynamic range rating | 10.4 | 11.8 |
| DXO Low light rating | 527 | 807 |
| Other | ||
| Battery life | 500 photos | 480 photos |
| Battery format | Battery Pack | Battery Pack |
| Battery ID | - | NP-FM500H |
| Self timer | Yes (2 or 12 sec) | Yes (2 or 10 sec) |
| Time lapse feature | ||
| Storage media | Compact Flash (Type I or II), xD Picture Card | SD/ SDHC, Memory Stick Pro Duo/ Pro-HG Duo |
| Storage slots | 1 | 1 |
| Pricing at release | $999 | $749 |