Olympus E-5 vs Sony HX400V

Below is a comprehensive review of the Olympus E-5 versus Sony HX400V, former being a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Sony. There is a substantial difference among the resolutions of the E-5 (12MP) and HX400V (20MP) and the E-5 (Four Thirds) and HX400V (1/2.3") feature different sensor dimensions.

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The E-5 was introduced 4 years before the HX400V and that is a fairly big difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-5 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony HX400V being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before diving in to a thorough comparison, below is a brief summation of how the E-5 matches up against the HX400V in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-5 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX400V. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-5 Gallery & Sony HX400V Gallery.

If you are planning to lug around your camera often, you have to factor in its weight and size. The Olympus E-5 provides external measurements of 143mm x 117mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") and a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs) while the Sony HX400V has specifications of 130mm x 93mm x 103mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 4.1") having a weight of 660 grams (1.46 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-5 versus Sony HX400V in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you choose at that time. The following is the front view dimension comparison of the E-5 versus the HX400V.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability grade of the E-5 and HX400V is 58 and 62 respectively.

Often, it's hard to visualize the gap in sensor measurements simply by looking through a spec sheet. The photograph underneath will help give you a greater sense of the sensor measurements in the E-5 and HX400V.

As you can see, both the cameras have got different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-5 using its bigger sensor is going to make shooting bokeh less difficult and the Sony HX400V will render more detail using its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop pictures much more aggressively. The older E-5 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor tech.