Olympus E-5 vs Sony A6500

On this page, we will be looking at the Olympus E-5 and Sony A6500, one being a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Advanced Mirrorless by competitors Olympus and Sony. There is a big difference between the image resolutions of the E-5 (12MP) and A6500 (24MP) and the E-5 (Four Thirds) and A6500 (APS-C) provide totally different sensor sizes.

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The E-5 was unveiled 6 years before the A6500 and that is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-5 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony A6500 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving right into a step-by-step comparison, here is a short overview of how the E-5 scores versus the A6500 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-5 and Sony Alpha a6500. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-5 Gallery and Sony A6500 Gallery.

For those who are aiming to carry your camera often, you are going to need to factor in its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-5 comes with outside dimensions of 143mm x 117mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") accompanied by a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs) whilst the Sony A6500 has measurements of 120mm x 67mm x 53mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 2.1") having a weight of 453 grams (1.00 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-5 and Sony A6500 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you have chosen at the time. Underneath is a front view overall size comparison of the E-5 vs the A6500.

Considering size and weight, the portability rating of the E-5 and A6500 is 58 and 81 respectively.

In many cases, its difficult to visualise the difference between sensor sizing only by looking at a spec sheet. The photograph here should offer you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the E-5 and A6500.

As you can see, both cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The E-5 with its tinier sensor will make shooting shallow depth of field tougher and the Sony A6500 will give greater detail having an extra 12MP. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop pictures more aggressively. The older E-5 is going to be behind in sensor tech.