Olympus E-5 vs Olympus SH-1

Lets look a little more closely at the Olympus E-5 vs Olympus SH-1, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both of them are manufactured by Olympus. There is a sizable difference between the image resolutions of the E-5 (12MP) and SH-1 (16MP) and the E-5 (Four Thirds) and SH-1 (1/2.3") have different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-5 was launched 4 years prior to the SH-1 and that is quite a significant difference as far as tech is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-5 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus SH-1 being a Compact camera.

Before we go right into a step-by-step comparison, here is a brief highlight of how the E-5 grades against the SH-1 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-5 & Olympus Stylus SH-1. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-5 Gallery & Olympus SH-1 Gallery.

If you're aiming to lug around your camera regularly, you will want to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-5 offers exterior measurements of 143mm x 117mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") having a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs) while the Olympus SH-1 has sizing of 109mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.7") and a weight of 271 grams (0.60 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-5 vs Olympus SH-1 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you choose at the time. Following is a front view measurement comparison of the E-5 against the SH-1.

Looking at size and weight, the portability grade of the E-5 and SH-1 is 58 and 88 respectively.

Generally, it is difficult to visualize the contrast between sensor measurements merely by reading through technical specs. The graphic here should provide you a greater sense of the sensor measurements in the E-5 and SH-1.

As you have seen, each of the cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-5 featuring a larger sensor is going to make achieving shallower depth of field less difficult and the Olympus SH-1 will resolve extra detail utilizing its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also let you crop pics a bit more aggressively. The older E-5 is going to be behind in sensor tech.