Olympus E-420 vs Sony NEX-5

On this page, we are matching up the Olympus E-420 versus Sony NEX-5, one is a Entry-Level DSLR and the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by competitors Olympus and Sony. There exists a huge gap between the resolutions of the E-420 (10MP) and NEX-5 (14MP) and the E-420 (Four Thirds) and NEX-5 (APS-C) posses different sensor dimensions.

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The E-420 was announced 23 months earlier than the NEX-5 making them a generation away from one another. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-420 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony NEX-5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before delving straight to a complete comparison, here is a brief synopsis of how the E-420 scores versus the NEX-5 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

The following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-420 and Sony Alpha NEX-5. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-420 Gallery and Sony NEX-5 Gallery.

When you are going to travel with your camera often, you're going to have to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-420 has got external measurements of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") accompanied by a weight of 426 grams (0.94 lbs) whilst the Sony NEX-5 has sizing of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") and a weight of 287 grams (0.63 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-420 versus Sony NEX-5 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you are utilising at the time. Following is a front view scale comparison of the E-420 versus the NEX-5.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-420 and NEX-5 is 77 and 89 respectively.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to imagine the contrast between sensor dimensions just by reading a spec sheet. The pic underneath will help provide you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the E-420 and NEX-5.

As you can see, both cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The E-420 using its tinier sensor is going to make achieving shallower depth of field tougher and the Sony NEX-5 will offer extra detail with its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop images a bit more aggressively. The more aged E-420 is going to be behind with regard to sensor innovation.