Olympus E-500 vs Sony A850

Olympus E-500 vs Sony A850: An Expert Comparison for Advanced DSLR Shooters

In this comprehensive comparison, we dissect two notable advanced DSLR cameras from different eras and sensor formats: the Olympus E-500, launched in late 2005, and the Sony Alpha DSLR-A850, released in 2010. Although both are mid-size DSLRs targeting photography enthusiasts and semiprofessionals, their underlying technologies, design philosophies, and intended use cases diverge drastically. Drawing upon extensive hands-on testing and technical analysis methods refined over thousands of camera evaluations, this article delivers a fact-based, detailed assessment to help discerning photographers understand their options.

Body Design and Ergonomics: Size, Handling, and Controls

The Olympus E-500 and Sony A850 initially contrast markedly in physical stature and handling attributes. The E-500 is a compact, lightweight construction at 479 grams and measuring 130×95×66 mm, optimized for portability and ease of use. Its use of the Four Thirds sensor system drives a smaller lens mount and reduced overall dimensions. The Sony A850, on the other hand, weighs nearly double at 895 grams and occupies 156×117×82 mm, offering a more substantial, robust feel with enhanced environmental sealing.

The E-500 utilizes a Micro Four Thirds lens mount, featuring a simpler control layout with a fixed 2.5-inch LCD screen and an optical pentaprism viewfinder covering 95% of the frame with 0.45x magnification. The Sony sports a larger, higher resolution 3-inch TFT Xtra Fine LCD with 922k dots, a top information panel for quick status checks, and a pentaprism viewfinder with 98% coverage and 0.74x magnification, affording a clearer, more immersive framing experience.

While the Olympus’s smaller body favors street and travel photography where discretion and weight are paramount, the Sony’s heftier construction translates to better grip security and comfort for extended shooting sessions, especially professionally oriented tasks.

The Sony’s control scheme offers more dedicated dials and buttons, including illuminated controls, enabling faster access to essential settings such as custom white balance and exposure bracketing - a clear advantage in dynamic shooting environments. The E-500’s simpler interface requires some menu navigation for similar functions, which can impede speed in complex scenarios.

Sensor and Image Quality: Size, Resolution, and Performance Metrics

At the heart of the E-500 lies an 8-megapixel Four Thirds CCD sensor measuring approximately 17.3×13 mm with a resulting sensor area of ~225 mm², while the Sony A850 employs a 24.6-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor sized at 35.9×24 mm providing an 861.6 mm² sensor area. This fundamental difference establishes the A850 as the more capable performer in image quality and low-light conditions, a conclusion validated by DXOmark-like metrics where applicable.

From a first principles perspective, the larger Sony CMOS sensor captures significantly more light per pixel, enabling cleaner high ISO performance, broader dynamic range, and deeper color depth - a crucial advantage for demanding disciplines like landscape, portrait, and professional studio photography. The E-500’s smaller sensor physically limits its light-gathering capacity, reflected in a native ISO ceiling of 400, extendable to 1600, compared to the A850’s native 3200 with boosts to 6400.

The CCD sensor in the E-500 tends to render colors with a distinctive, perhaps nostalgic smoothness and lower noise at base ISO settings but lacks the dynamic range and shadow detail retrieval possible with Sony’s modern CMOS array and Bionz processor. Notably, the A850’s sensor supports aspect ratios of 3:2 and 16:9, catering to varied compositional preferences, whereas the E-500 sticks to the classical 4:3 format.

Autofocus Capabilities: Speed, Accuracy, and Coverage

Both cameras provide phase-detection autofocus systems but differ markedly in complexity and capability. The E-500 incorporates a comparatively rudimentary 3-point AF system without cross-type sensors, limiting its flexibility in tracking moving subjects. Its continuous autofocus mode can suffice for slow-moving subjects but struggles with accuracy in fast-paced action or wildlife photography. Face detection and advanced tracking AF features are nonexistent.

The Sony A850 upgrades to 9 AF points, arranged to cover a wider area of the frame and mostly incorporating cross-type sensors, enhancing accuracy and precision. While not equipped with the latest real-time tracking or eye detection autofocus capabilities found in mirrorless rivals, its performance is robust within DSLR paradigms, especially in sports or wildlife contexts where AF speed and reliability are essential.

The lack of live view AF support in both models means autofocus operation is confined to phase detection via the viewfinder, which, combined with the Sony’s more sophisticated AF system, gives it an edge in responsiveness and compositional versatility.

Burst Shooting and Shutter Performance

Each camera offers a modest continuous shooting frame rate of approximately 3.0 frames per second (fps), a limitation for photographers specializing in high-speed action capture. The E-500’s mechanical shutter can reach speeds from 60 seconds maximum exposure to 1/4000 second minimum. Its flash sync speed is 1/180s.

The A850 broadens shutter speed range from 30 seconds long exposures to a top mechanical shutter speed of 1/8000 second - valuable for shooting wide apertures in bright conditions or freezing rapid motion. Its flash sync speed is 1/250s, marginally better for off-camera flash synchronization. These shutter speed capabilities align with the A850’s intent to serve pro-level shooting demands.

Screen and User Interface

The Olympus E-500’s fixed 2.5-inch LCD with 215k resolution is serviceable for image review but falls short by modern standards in clarity and size, complicating critical sharpness checks or menu navigation. The Sony A850’s 3-inch TFT Xtra Fine screen with 922k dots provides a noticeably sharper display, enhancing post-capture evaluation and menu readability.

Neither camera includes touch or articulating screens, nor live view capabilities, restricting framing adjustments to the optical viewfinder and limiting video utility (nonexistent on both). Navigation ergonomics favor the Sony, whose enhanced control suite and top panel allow quicker interaction with settings.

Lens Ecosystem and Mount Compatibility

Lens availability and mount system flexibility critically influence system longevity and versatility. The Olympus E-500 uses an early Micro Four Thirds mount system with about 45 native lenses available, ranging from compact primes to consumer zooms. Due to its smaller sensor’s 2.1x crop factor, focal lengths require multiplication when translating to 35mm equivalents, which may influence wide-angle capabilities negatively but enhances telephoto reach.

In contrast, the Sony A850 adheres to the Sony/Minolta Alpha mount, offering an extensive collection of 143+ lenses ranging from legacy Minolta glass through modern Sony G Master lenses. The full-frame sensor coupled with a 1x crop factor preserves true focal length characteristics, preserving lens perspective and depth-of-field control favored by professionals. Additionally, the Sony’s compatibility includes professional-grade optics suited for portraits, landscapes, or sports.

Build Quality and Durability

The Olympus E-500 features a mid-size SLR body constructed with plastic composites yielding lightness at the expense of weather sealing or ruggedness. It lacks any notable environmental protection - dustproofing, shock resistance, or freezeproof features - which restrict the camera’s confidence in adverse conditions.

The Sony A850 builds on a magnesium-alloy chassis with partial weather sealing, enhancing resilience against moisture and dust ingress. This robustness aligns with professional workflows requiring reliability in variable environments such as outdoor sports or nature photography.

Battery Life and Storage

Sony offers a pronounced advantage in battery endurance, with its NP-FM500H battery rated for about 880 shots per charge, a robust figure that facilitates prolonged field use without frequent replacements. The Olympus specifics are less documented, but typical Four Thirds DSLRs of the era generally permit fewer shots per charge, rendering them less suitable for extended shoots unless extra batteries are available.

The Sony A850 also supports dual storage slots: Compact Flash cards with UDMA compatibility and Memory Stick Duo/Pro Duo formats - flexibility beneficial for backup or overflow storage management. Olympus E-500 is limited to a single slot accepting either Compact Flash or xD Picture Cards, primarily single-slot operation reduces storage workflow flexibility.

Flash and Exposure Control Features

The E-500 integrates a built-in flash providing an effective range of approximately 13 meters (ISO 100), with basic flash modes such as Auto, Manual, and Red-Eye reduction. However, no high-speed sync is available, and flash customization is minimal.

Contrastingly, the Sony A850 omits a built-in flash but offers extensive external flash support including multi-segment metering, auto flash, slow sync, rear-curtain sync, and wireless flash control - critical features for sophisticated studio, event, or creative lighting setups.

Both models provide comprehensive exposure modes: shutter priority, aperture priority, and manual, with exposure compensation enabled. Sony supports AE bracketing and white balance bracketing, advantageous for HDR and color-critical shooting.

Connectivity and Interface

Neither camera offers modern wireless or Bluetooth connectivity, limiting image transfer options to USB 2.0 ports. The Sony includes an HDMI output for external monitor connections - a valuable feature for tethered workflows or larger image review displays unavailable on the Olympus.

Real-World Use Case Evaluations

Portrait Photography: The Sony A850’s full-frame sensor, higher resolution, superior color depth, and broader lens selection enable finer skin tone rendering and subject isolation through shallow depth of field. Advanced exposure control and more precise autofocus points facilitate capturing crisp details and catchlights in eyes, essential for flattering portraits. The Olympus E-500’s smaller sensor limits dynamic range and background bokeh quality, though it remains capable for casual portrait work under controlled lighting.

Landscape Photography: Dynamic range and resolution strongly favor the Sony, which excels with 24.6 MP detail capture and 12+ stops of latitude, accommodating demanding scenes with varied lighting. The weather-sealed body enhances field durability for outdoor conditions, whereas the Olympus may suffice for enthusiasts willing to manage more restrictive ISO ranges and limited exposure flexibility.

Wildlife and Sports Photography: Both cameras shoot at 3 fps with phase detect AF, but the Sony’s larger AF point array, improved AF precision, and longer shutter speeds provide a performance edge in tracking fast-moving subjects. Coupled with the 1x crop full-frame and a vast telephoto lens ecosystem, the A850 asserts dominance in these domains.

Street Photography: The compact Olympus E-500 offers a distinct advantage for candid shooting requiring low profile and light weight but suffers from lower ISO sensitivity and less refined AF performance in unpredictable light. The Sony’s bulk and weight reduce portability but deliver better image quality in challenging lighting.

Macro Photography: Neither camera supports focus stacking or focus bracketing functions. Sensor stabilization on the A850 mitigates camera shake, improving macro sharpness potential. However, Olympus users may benefit from the lighter system for handheld close-ups, compensating for technological limitations.

Night and Astrophotography: The Sony’s CMOS sensor, extensive shutter speed range, and higher native ISOs provide clear benefits when shooting stars or long exposures in low light. Olympus E-500’s ISO 400 ceiling and limited noise control reduce suitability.

Video and Multimedia: Video capture is absent on both cameras, reflecting their era and DSLR design focus. Creative users requiring hybrid photo/video capabilities should consider newer systems.

Travel Photography: Compactness, weight, and lens economy favor Olympus for travel photographers prioritizing mobility. Battery life and image quality push Sony as better for trips emphasizing professional image output.

Professional Applications: The Sony A850’s combination of a rugged body, superior sensor, comprehensive flash support, dual card slots, and greater battery endurance make it the preferable choice for professional photography workflows.

Olympus E 500 screen back Sony A850 front Sony A850 screen back

Value Proposition and Conclusion: Cost Efficiency Versus Capability

The Olympus E-500, historically priced around $600, delivers an accessible entry into DSLR photography with moderate performance suited to hobbyists or those prioritizing size and ease of handling. Its limitations include reduced sensor performance, simpler autofocus, and absence of advanced features.

The Sony A850, although dated now, previously commanded higher price points justified by its full-frame sensor, professional-grade build, and expansive lens options. Its enhancements in image quality, durability, and operational versatility cater well to enthusiasts upgrading toward serious photography.

In a hypothetical rating schema examining image quality, build, autofocus, and versatility, the Sony model outpaces Olympus clearly, though at the expense of size and weight.

Recommendations Based on Photography Needs

• Portrait, Landscape, Professional Work: Sony A850 is the superior platform with its full-frame sensor, detailed color rendition, and robust body design.
• Wildlife and Sports: A850's AF and shutter specifications better accommodate fast-action scenarios.
• Street and Travel Photography: Olympus E-500’s compact ergonomics and lighter system benefit mobility, though image quality compromises exist.
• Macro and Night Photography: Sony A850’s sensor capability and stabilization offer better control, despite lack of modern stacking features.
• Budget-Conscious Beginners: E-500 provides reasonable fundamentals with a simplified interface.

This deliberative, feature-focused comparison underscores that while the Olympus E-500 may appeal to photographers seeking portability and affordability, the Sony A850 remains the preferential choice for those demanding higher resolution, superior autofocus, build quality, and professional workflow features. Detailed testing confirms that sensor size and associated image quality advantages are the primary drivers underpinning the Sony’s enduring relevance within the advanced DSLR category.

Choosing between these cameras requires honest appraisal of one’s photographic priorities: size and simplicity versus capability and performance. Either system demands understanding operational constraints and aligning features with practical use cases, ensuring buyers make sound, technology-aware decisions.