Olympus E-500 vs Olympus 6000

Let's look a little more closely at the Olympus E-500 vs Olympus 6000, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Compact and both are offered by Olympus. The resolution of the E-500 (8MP) and the 6000 (10MP) is very well matched but the E-500 (Four Thirds) and 6000 (1/2.3") posses totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-500 was unveiled 4 years before the 6000 and that is quite a large difference as far as tech is concerned. Both of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus 6000 being a Compact camera.

Before diving straight to a step-by-step comparison, here is a concise summary of how the E-500 matches up versus the 6000 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-500 & Olympus Stylus Tough 6000. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Olympus 6000 Gallery.

For anybody who is intending to carry your camera often, you will need to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-500 offers external dimensions of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") and a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) while the Olympus 6000 has sizing of 95mm x 63mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.5" x 0.9") and a weight of 179 grams (0.39 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-500 vs Olympus 6000 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you are employing at that time. The following is a front view dimension comparison of the E-500 and the 6000.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the E-500 and 6000 is 70 and 94 respectively.

In many cases, its tough to see the difference between sensor sizing just by reading through technical specs. The visual below should give you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-500 and 6000.

As you have seen, the 2 cameras have different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The E-500 with its larger sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field easier and the Olympus 6000 will give extra detail having an extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop images a bit more aggressively. The older E-500 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor tech.