Olympus E-500 vs Olympus SP-800 UZ

Its time to take a more detailed look at the Olympus E-500 and Olympus SP-800 UZ, one is a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and they are both offered by Olympus. There is a crucial difference between the resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and SP-800 UZ (14MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and SP-800 UZ (1/2.3") possess different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-500 was brought out 5 years before the SP-800 UZ which is quite a serious gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus SP-800 UZ being a Compact camera.

Before getting straight into a step-by-step comparison, below is a quick introduction of how the E-500 grades against the SP-800 UZ in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-500 and Olympus SP-800 UZ. The entire galleries are provided at Olympus E-500 Gallery and Olympus SP-800 UZ Gallery.

If you're looking to travel with your camera regularly, you will have to factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-500 comes with outer dimensions of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") along with a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) while the Olympus SP-800 UZ has measurements of 110mm x 90mm x 91mm (4.3" x 3.5" x 3.6") along with a weight of 455 grams (1.00 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-500 and Olympus SP-800 UZ in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you are working with at that time. Following is the front view measurements comparison of the E-500 against the SP-800 UZ.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and SP-800 UZ is 70 and 69 respectively.

Generally, it's hard to imagine the contrast between sensor dimensions just by reading through technical specs. The image underneath will help provide you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-500 and SP-800 UZ.

As you can tell, the two cameras have got different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-500 because of its bigger sensor is going to make achieving bokeh less difficult and the Olympus SP-800 UZ will resolve extra detail having its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also allow you to crop pictures much more aggressively. The more aged E-500 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor tech.