Olympus E-500 vs Olympus VG-160

Below is a complete review of the Olympus E-500 versus Olympus VG-160, one being a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Compact and both of them are produced by Olympus. There is a huge difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and VG-160 (14MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and VG-160 (1/2.3") offer different sensor sizes.

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The E-500 was launched 7 years before the VG-160 and that is quite a significant gap as far as tech is concerned. The two cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus VG-160 being a Compact camera.

Before going straight to a full comparison, here is a concise introduction of how the E-500 matches up versus the VG-160 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-500 and Olympus VG-160. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-500 Gallery and Olympus VG-160 Gallery.

In case you're planning to lug around your camera, you need to factor its weight and size. The Olympus E-500 offers physical dimensions 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 VG-160 has specifications of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") along with a weight of 125 grams (0.28 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-500 versus Olympus VG-160 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you select at that moment. Underneath is a front view size comparison of the E-500 and the VG-160.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the E-500 and VG-160 is 70 and 96 respectively.

In many cases, it is very hard to visualize the difference between sensor measurements merely by reading a spec sheet. The photograph here might provide you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-500 and VG-160.

Clearly, both of these cameras feature different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-500 because of its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF simpler and the Olympus VG-160 will deliver extra detail utilizing its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will let you crop photos way more aggressively. The older E-500 is going to be behind in sensor technology.