Olympus E-5 vs Sony A99 II

Its time to look much closer at the Olympus E-5 versus Sony A99 II, both Advanced DSLR cameras by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a big difference among the sensor resolutions of the E-5 (12MP) and A99 II (42MP) and the E-5 (Four Thirds) and A99 II (Full frame) feature totally different sensor dimensions.

Pentax 17 Pre-Orders Outperform Expectations by a Landslide

The E-5 was unveiled 6 years before the A99 II and that is a fairly big gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Both cameras come with the identical body type (Mid-size SLR).

Before delving straight into a more detailed comparison, below is a quick summation of how the E-5 grades versus the A99 II in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-5 and Sony Alpha A99 II. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-5 Gallery and Sony A99 II Gallery.

If you're going to lug around your camera regularly, you have to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-5 provides outer dimensions of 143mm x 117mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") along with a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs) and the Sony A99 II has dimensions of 143mm x 104mm x 76mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.0") having a weight of 849 grams (1.87 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-5 versus Sony A99 II in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you select at that time. Following is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-5 versus the A99 II.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the E-5 and A99 II is 58 and 57 respectively.

Often, it can be tough to see the difference in sensor measurements just by seeing specs. The visual underneath may give you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-5 and A99 II.

All in all, the two cameras have got different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-5 using its smaller sensor will make getting shallower DOF trickier and the Sony A99 II will show extra detail having an extra 30 Megapixels. Higher resolution will enable you to crop pictures much more aggressively. The older E-5 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.