Olympus E-500 vs Sony A850

Let's look much closer at the Olympus E-500 vs Sony A850, both Advanced DSLR digital cameras by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There is a significant difference between the image resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and A850 (25MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and A850 (Full frame) provide different sensor dimensions.

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The E-500 was launched 5 years before the A850 which is quite a sizable gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras have the same body design (Mid-size SLR).

Before getting straight to a comprehensive comparison, here is a brief view of how the E-500 grades against the A850 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-500 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A850. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-500 Gallery and Sony A850 Gallery.

If you are planning to travel with your camera regularly, you should factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-500 enjoys 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) and the Sony A850 has sizing of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") having a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-500 vs Sony A850 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you have chosen at that time. Here is a front view sizing comparison of the E-500 and the A850.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability grade of the E-500 and A850 is 70 and 54 respectively.

Often, it's tough to imagine the difference between sensor dimensions merely by looking at specs. The pic below will help provide you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-500 and A850.

All in all, each of these cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-500 due to its tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallower DOF trickier and the Sony A850 will resolve extra detail utilizing its extra 17 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop pictures more aggressively. The more aged E-500 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.