Olympus E-500 vs Samsung NX300

Its time to look more closely at the Olympus E-500 vs Samsung NX300, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by companies Olympus and Samsung. There is a noticeable difference among the resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and NX300 (20MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and NX300 (APS-C) boast totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-500 was revealed 9 years earlier than the NX300 and that is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Samsung NX300 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving straight to a thorough comparison, here is a brief view of how the E-500 grades against the NX300 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-500 & Samsung NX300. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Samsung NX300 Gallery.

For those who are going to carry your camera regularly, you need to think about its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-500 enjoys physical measurements of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") and a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) and the Samsung NX300 has proportions of 122mm x 64mm x 41mm (4.8" x 2.5" x 1.6") accompanied by a weight of 331 grams (0.73 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-500 vs Samsung NX300 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are employing at that time. Below is a front view dimension comparison of the E-500 and the NX300.

Looking at size and weight, the portability grade of the E-500 and NX300 is 70 and 86 respectively.

In many cases, it's hard to envision the difference in sensor sizing merely by viewing a spec sheet. The visual below may offer you a far better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-500 and NX300.

As you can see, both the cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The E-500 with its smaller sensor will make shooting shallow depth of field trickier and the Samsung NX300 will render greater detail because of its extra 12MP. Greater resolution will also help you crop images more aggressively. The older E-500 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.