Olympus E-500 vs Sony H20
70 Imaging
41 Features
34 Overall
38
87 Imaging
32 Features
29 Overall
30
Olympus E-500 vs Sony H20 Key Specs
(Full Review)
- 8MP - Four Thirds Sensor
- 2.5" Fixed Display
- ISO 100 - 400 (Boost to 1600)
- No Video
- Micro Four Thirds Mount
- 479g - 130 x 95 x 66mm
- Revealed October 2005
- Other Name is EVOLT E-500
- Refreshed by Olympus E-510
(Full Review)
- 10MP - 1/2.3" Sensor
- 3" Fixed Screen
- ISO 100 - 3200
- Optical Image Stabilization
- 1280 x 720 video
- 38-380mm (F3.5-4.4) lens
- 250g - 107 x 69 x 47mm
- Announced May 2009
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Its time to take a deeper look at the Olympus E-500 and Sony H20, former being a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by brands Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the E-500 (8MP) and the H20 (10MP) is relatively comparable but the E-500 (Four Thirds) and H20 (1/2.3") provide different sensor measurements.
President Biden pushes bill mandating TikTok sale or banThe E-500 was manufactured 4 years prior to the H20 and that is a fairly big difference as far as camera technology is concerned. The two cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony H20 being a Compact camera.
Before delving right into a step-by-step comparison, here is a brief summary of how the E-500 matches up against the H20 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.
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The following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-500 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H20. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Sony H20 Gallery.
Reasons to pick Olympus E-500 over the Sony H20
| E-500 | H20 |
|---|
Reasons to pick Sony H20 over the Olympus E-500
| H20 | E-500 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announced | May 2009 | October 2005 | More recent by 43 months | |
| Screen size | 3" | 2.5" | Bigger screen (+0.5") | |
| Screen resolution | 230k | 215k | Clearer screen (+15k dot) |
Common features in the Olympus E-500 and Sony H20
| E-500 | H20 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focus manually | Very exact focusing | |||
| Screen type | Fixed | Fixed | Fixed screen | |
| Selfie screen | Neither contains selfie screen | |||
| Touch screen | Neither contains Touch screen |
Olympus E-500 vs Sony H20 Physical Comparison
In case you're intending to lug around your camera, you will want to think about its weight and volume. The Olympus E-500 has got external dimensions of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") accompanied by a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) whilst the Sony H20 has sizing of 107mm x 69mm x 47mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.9") having a weight of 250 grams (0.55 lbs).
Contrast the Olympus E-500 and Sony H20 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.
Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are utilizing at the time. Following is a front view size comparison of the E-500 vs the H20.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-500 and H20 is 70 and 87 respectively.
Olympus E-500 vs Sony H20 Sensor Comparison
Typically, it is hard to imagine the contrast in sensor measurements simply by going through technical specs. The graphic below might provide you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-500 and H20.
As you can tell, each of the cameras feature different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-500 due to its bigger sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF simpler and the Sony H20 will show greater detail due to its extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution will enable you to crop pictures way more aggressively. The older E-500 will be disadvantaged in sensor technology.
Olympus E-500 vs Sony H20 Screen and ViewFinder
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Olympus E-500 vs Sony H20 Specifications
| Olympus E-500 | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H20 | |
|---|---|---|
| General Information | ||
| Make | Olympus | Sony |
| Model type | Olympus E-500 | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H20 |
| Otherwise known as | EVOLT E-500 | - |
| Category | Advanced DSLR | Small Sensor Compact |
| Revealed | 2005-10-21 | 2009-05-14 |
| Body design | Mid-size SLR | Compact |
| Sensor Information | ||
| Sensor type | CCD | CCD |
| Sensor size | Four Thirds | 1/2.3" |
| Sensor measurements | 17.3 x 13mm | 6.17 x 4.55mm |
| Sensor area | 224.9mm² | 28.1mm² |
| Sensor resolution | 8 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Anti alias filter | ||
| Aspect ratio | 4:3 | 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 |
| Highest resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 3648 x 2736 |
| Highest native ISO | 400 | 3200 |
| Highest boosted ISO | 1600 | - |
| Lowest native ISO | 100 | 100 |
| RAW photos | ||
| Autofocusing | ||
| Manual focusing | ||
| Touch focus | ||
| Continuous AF | ||
| AF single | ||
| Tracking AF | ||
| Selective AF | ||
| AF center weighted | ||
| AF multi area | ||
| AF live view | ||
| Face detect AF | ||
| Contract detect AF | ||
| Phase detect AF | ||
| Total focus points | 3 | 9 |
| Lens | ||
| Lens mount type | Micro Four Thirds | fixed lens |
| Lens zoom range | - | 38-380mm (10.0x) |
| Max aperture | - | f/3.5-4.4 |
| Macro focusing distance | - | 2cm |
| Number of lenses | 45 | - |
| Crop factor | 2.1 | 5.8 |
| Screen | ||
| Range of display | Fixed Type | Fixed Type |
| Display sizing | 2.5 inch | 3 inch |
| Resolution of display | 215 thousand dot | 230 thousand dot |
| Selfie friendly | ||
| Liveview | ||
| Touch friendly | ||
| Viewfinder Information | ||
| Viewfinder | Optical (pentaprism) | None |
| Viewfinder coverage | 95% | - |
| Viewfinder magnification | 0.45x | - |
| Features | ||
| Lowest shutter speed | 60 secs | 30 secs |
| Highest shutter speed | 1/4000 secs | 1/2000 secs |
| Continuous shooting speed | 3.0fps | 2.0fps |
| Shutter priority | ||
| Aperture priority | ||
| Manually set exposure | ||
| Exposure compensation | Yes | Yes |
| Set WB | ||
| Image stabilization | ||
| Inbuilt flash | ||
| Flash distance | 13.00 m (at ISO 100) | 7.10 m |
| Flash modes | Auto, Auto FP, Manual, Red-Eye | Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye reduction, Slow Sync, Front Curtain, Rear Curtain |
| External flash | ||
| Auto exposure bracketing | ||
| White balance bracketing | ||
| Highest flash sync | 1/180 secs | - |
| Exposure | ||
| Multisegment metering | ||
| Average metering | ||
| Spot metering | ||
| Partial metering | ||
| AF area metering | ||
| Center weighted metering | ||
| Video features | ||
| Supported video resolutions | - | 1280 x 720 (30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps) |
| Highest video resolution | None | 1280x720 |
| Microphone jack | ||
| Headphone jack | ||
| Connectivity | ||
| Wireless | None | None |
| Bluetooth | ||
| NFC | ||
| HDMI | ||
| USB | USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) | USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) |
| GPS | None | None |
| Physical | ||
| Environment seal | ||
| Water proofing | ||
| Dust proofing | ||
| Shock proofing | ||
| Crush proofing | ||
| Freeze proofing | ||
| Weight | 479 grams (1.06 lb) | 250 grams (0.55 lb) |
| Physical dimensions | 130 x 95 x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") | 107 x 69 x 47mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.9") |
| DXO scores | ||
| DXO All around rating | not tested | not tested |
| DXO Color Depth rating | not tested | not tested |
| DXO Dynamic range rating | not tested | not tested |
| DXO Low light rating | not tested | not tested |
| Other | ||
| Battery ID | - | NP-BG1 |
| Self timer | Yes (2 or 12 sec) | Yes (2 or 10 sec) |
| Time lapse feature | ||
| Storage media | Compact Flash (Type I or II), xD Picture Card | Memory Stick Duo / Pro Duo, Internal |
| Storage slots | Single | Single |
| Retail pricing | $600 | $249 |