Olympus E-420 vs Sony RX100

Below is a comprehensive review of the Olympus E-420 versus Sony RX100, former being a Entry-Level DSLR while the other is a Large Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There is a noticeable difference between the resolutions of the E-420 (10MP) and RX100 (20MP) and the E-420 (Four Thirds) and RX100 (1") use different sensor sizes.

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The E-420 was launched 5 years earlier than the RX100 and that is quite a sizable difference as far as tech is concerned. Both cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-420 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony RX100 being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before delving through a in-depth comparison, below is a concise highlight of how the E-420 scores vs the RX100 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-420 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-420 Gallery & Sony RX100 Gallery.

When you are going to lug around your camera regularly, you will want to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-420 enjoys exterior measurements of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") with a weight of 426 grams (0.94 lbs) and the Sony RX100 has dimensions of 102mm x 58mm x 36mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.4") with a weight of 240 grams (0.53 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-420 versus Sony RX100 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you are utilising at that time. Below is the front view overall size comparison of the E-420 versus the RX100.

Looking at size and weight, the portability score of the E-420 and RX100 is 77 and 91 respectively.

In many cases, it's difficult to imagine the gap between sensor measurements simply by checking a spec sheet. The visual here will help give you a far better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-420 and RX100.

As you can see, each of the cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-420 due to its larger sensor is going to make getting shallower DOF less difficult and the Sony RX100 will resolve greater detail utilizing its extra 10 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also enable you to crop photos much more aggressively. The older E-420 is going to be behind with regard to sensor technology.