Olympus E-450 vs Sony NEX-5

Its time to take a closer look at the Olympus E-450 vs Sony NEX-5, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by competitors Olympus and Sony. There exists a significant gap between the sensor resolutions of the E-450 (10MP) and NEX-5 (14MP) and the E-450 (Four Thirds) and NEX-5 (APS-C) offer different sensor size.

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The E-450 was unveiled 14 months prior to the NEX-5 which makes them a generation apart from one another. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-450 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony NEX-5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting straight to a in-depth comparison, here is a quick introduction of how the E-450 scores versus the NEX-5 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-450 and Sony Alpha NEX-5. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-450 Gallery and Sony NEX-5 Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to carry your camera, you'll need to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-450 offers physical dimensions of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") with a weight of 426 grams (0.94 lbs) whilst the Sony NEX-5 has dimensions of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") along with a weight of 287 grams (0.63 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-450 vs Sony NEX-5 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you use at the time. The following is a front view over all size comparison of the E-450 versus the NEX-5.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-450 and NEX-5 is 77 and 89 respectively.

Typically, it can be tough to picture the contrast between sensor sizing only by looking at a spec sheet. The graphic underneath should give you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-450 and NEX-5.

As you can see, both the cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The E-450 having a tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallower DOF trickier and the Sony NEX-5 will give you more detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also help you crop photographs more aggressively. The older E-450 is going to be behind when it comes to sensor tech.