Olympus E-500 vs Olympus SH-50

Lets look a bit more in depth at the Olympus E-500 versus Olympus SH-50, one is a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both are created by Olympus. There is a significant difference among the image resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and SH-50 (16MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and SH-50 (1/2.3") use different sensor dimensions.

Japan-exclusive Leica Leitz Phone 3 features big sensor and new modes

The E-500 was launched 8 years earlier than the SH-50 which is a fairly sizable gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera.

Before delving straight into a in depth comparison, below is a short summation of how the E-500 matches up vs the SH-50 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-500 and Olympus SH-50. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-500 Gallery and Olympus SH-50 Gallery.

For those who are looking to carry around your camera often, you should factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-500 has physical measurements of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") with a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) whilst the Olympus SH-50 has measurements of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") with a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-500 versus Olympus SH-50 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you have chosen at that moment. Here is the front view measurement comparison of the E-500 versus the SH-50.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and SH-50 is 70 and 88 respectively.

Usually, its tough to picture the gap in sensor sizes simply by going through specs. The picture below will help give you a more clear sense of the sensor measurements in the E-500 and SH-50.

As you can plainly see, each of these cameras enjoy different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-500 because of its bigger sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF less difficult and the Olympus SH-50 will provide more detail utilizing its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will help you crop photographs far more aggressively. The more aged E-500 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.