Clicky

Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70

Portability
70
Imaging
41
Features
34
Overall
38
Olympus E-500 front
 
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H70 front
Portability
93
Imaging
39
Features
31
Overall
35

Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70 Key Specs

Olympus E-500
(Full Review)
  • 8MP - Four Thirds Sensor
  • 2.5" Fixed Screen
  • ISO 100 - 400 (Bump to 1600)
  • No Video
  • Micro Four Thirds Mount
  • 479g - 130 x 95 x 66mm
  • Revealed October 2005
  • Alternative Name is EVOLT E-500
  • Refreshed by Olympus E-510
Sony H70
(Full Review)
  • 16MP - 1/2.3" Sensor
  • 3" Fixed Screen
  • ISO 80 - 3200
  • Optical Image Stabilization
  • 1280 x 720 video
  • 25-250mm (F3.5-5.5) lens
  • 194g - 102 x 58 x 29mm
  • Released January 2011
Apple Innovates by Creating Next-Level Optical Stabilization for iPhone

Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70 Overview

In this write-up, we will be matching up the Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70, former is a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap between the sensor resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and H70 (16MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and H70 (1/2.3") possess totally different sensor dimensions.

Pentax 17 Pre-Orders Outperform Expectations by a Landslide

The E-500 was manufactured 6 years before the H70 which is quite a serious difference as far as technology is concerned. The two cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony H70 being a Compact camera.

Before getting in to a more detailed comparison, below is a short summary of how the E-500 matches up against the H70 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Meta to Introduce 'AI-Generated' Labels for Media starting next month
	
	

Reasons to pick Olympus E-500 over the Sony H70

 E-500 H70 
Manual focus Very accurate focusing

Reasons to pick Sony H70 over the Olympus E-500

 H70 E-500 
ReleasedJanuary 2011October 2005Newer by 63 months
Screen sizing3"2.5"Bigger screen (+0.5")
Screen resolution230k215kSharper screen (+15k dot)

Common features in the Olympus E-500 and Sony H70

 E-500 H70 
Screen typeFixed Fixed Fixed screen
Selfie screen Neither features selfie screen
Touch friendly screen Absent Touch friendly screen

Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70 Physical Comparison

When you are going to travel with your camera, you are going to need to factor its weight and size. The Olympus E-500 enjoys outer 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 H70 has specifications of 102mm x 58mm x 29mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.1") along with a weight of 194 grams (0.43 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool. Camera Size Comparison with Lenses

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you have chosen at that moment. Here is the front view sizing comparison of the E-500 and the H70.

Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70 size comparison

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and H70 is 70 and 93 respectively.

Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70 top view buttons comparison

Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70 Sensor Comparison

Sometimes, it can be difficult to see the difference between sensor dimensions purely by reading a spec sheet. The picture here should provide you a clearer sense of the sensor sizes in the E-500 and H70.

As you can see, both of those cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-500 featuring a bigger sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field easier and the Sony H70 will offer you greater detail due to its extra 8MP. Higher resolution will help you crop shots a little more aggressively. The more aged E-500 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor technology.

Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70 sensor size comparison

Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70 Screen and ViewFinder

Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70 Screen and Viewfinder comparison
Photography Glossary

Photography Type Scores

Portrait Comparison

Portrait photography with Olympus E-500
Portrait photography with Sony H70
48
manual focus
sensor size is nice (Four Thirds)
exports RAW files
no liveview feature
low resolution (8MP)
30
decent MP (16 megapixels)
no manual focus
lack of manual exposure
can't use external flash
sensor is small (1/2.3")
doesn't have RAW format
Japan-exclusive Leica Leitz Phone 3 features big sensor and new modes

Street Comparison

Olympus E-500 Street photography info
Sony H70 Street photography info
56
sensor size is nice (Four Thirds)
exports RAW files
lighter than competitors (479g)
no moving screen
does not have image stabilization
maximum ISO low (400)
57
has image stabilization (Optical)
screen is fixed
sensor is small (1/2.3")
doesn't have RAW format
President Biden pushes bill mandating TikTok sale or ban

Sports Comparison

Sports photography with Olympus E-500
Sports photography with Sony H70
37
sensor size is nice (Four Thirds)
has phase detect auto focus
no liveview feature
max fps very slow (3.0 frames/s)
does not have image stabilization
low resolution (8MP)
36
has image stabilization (Optical)
decent MP (16 megapixels)
continuous shooting slow (1.0 fps)
no shutter priority
sensor is small (1/2.3")
doesn't have phase detect autofocus
Sora from OpenAI releases its first ever music video

Travel Comparison

Olympus E-500 as a Travel photography camera
Sony H70 as a Travel photography camera
52
lighter than competitors (479g)
built-in flash
does not have Time Lapse function
low resolution (8 megapixels)
doesn't offer selfie friendly display
67
decent MP (16MP)
built-in flash
reasonably wide (25mm)
great zoom (250mm)
does not have Timelapse mode
screen isn't selfie friendly
somewhat slow maximum aperture (f3.5)
Snapchat Adds Watermarks to AI-Created Images

Landscape Comparison

Olympus E-500 as a Landscape photography camera
Sony H70 as a Landscape photography camera
43
manual focus
interchangeable lenses (Micro Four Thirds mount)
sensor size is nice (Four Thirds)
exports RAW files
screen is somewhat small (2.5")
no liveview feature
does not have image stabilization
low resolution (8MP)
maximum ISO low (400)
does not have Time Lapse function
43
reasonably wide (25mm)
nice screen size (3 inch)
has image stabilization (Optical)
decent MP (16 megapixels)
no manual focus
lens is fixed (fixed lens mount)
somewhat slow maximum aperture (f3.5)
lack of manual exposure
sensor is small (1/2.3")
doesn't have RAW format
does not have Timelapse mode
Samsung Releases Faster Versions of EVO MicroSD Cards

Vlogging Comparison

Olympus E-500 Vlogging details
Sony H70 Vlogging details
9
no video shooting
29
reasonably wide (25mm)
has image stabilization (Optical)
somewhat slow maximum aperture (f3.5)
screen isn't selfie friendly
low quality video (1280 x 720 resolution)
does not have microphone support
Photobucket discusses licensing 13 billion images with AI firms

Olympus E-500 vs Sony H70 Specifications

Detailed spec comparison table for Olympus E-500 and Sony H70
 Olympus E-500Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H70
General Information
Manufacturer Olympus Sony
Model Olympus E-500 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H70
Also called EVOLT E-500 -
Type Advanced DSLR Small Sensor Compact
Revealed 2005-10-21 2011-01-06
Physical type Mid-size SLR Compact
Sensor Information
Processor - BIONZ
Sensor type CCD CCD
Sensor size Four Thirds 1/2.3"
Sensor measurements 17.3 x 13mm 6.17 x 4.55mm
Sensor surface area 224.9mm² 28.1mm²
Sensor resolution 8MP 16MP
Anti aliasing filter
Aspect ratio 4:3 4:3 and 16:9
Highest resolution 3264 x 2448 4608 x 3456
Highest native ISO 400 3200
Highest boosted ISO 1600 -
Min native ISO 100 80
RAW images
Autofocusing
Focus manually
AF touch
Continuous AF
Single AF
AF tracking
AF selectice
AF center weighted
AF multi area
Live view AF
Face detection focusing
Contract detection focusing
Phase detection focusing
Number of focus points 3 9
Lens
Lens mount Micro Four Thirds fixed lens
Lens focal range - 25-250mm (10.0x)
Maximal aperture - f/3.5-5.5
Macro focus distance - 5cm
Available lenses 45 -
Focal length multiplier 2.1 5.8
Screen
Type of screen Fixed Type Fixed Type
Screen sizing 2.5 inch 3 inch
Screen resolution 215 thousand dots 230 thousand dots
Selfie friendly
Liveview
Touch operation
Screen tech - Clear Photo LCD
Viewfinder Information
Viewfinder type Optical (pentaprism) None
Viewfinder coverage 95% -
Viewfinder magnification 0.45x -
Features
Slowest shutter speed 60 secs 30 secs
Maximum shutter speed 1/4000 secs 1/1600 secs
Continuous shooting rate 3.0 frames/s 1.0 frames/s
Shutter priority
Aperture priority
Manually set exposure
Exposure compensation Yes -
Custom WB
Image stabilization
Integrated flash
Flash range 13.00 m (at ISO 100) 3.60 m
Flash modes Auto, Auto FP, Manual, Red-Eye Auto, On, Off, Slow Sync
Hot shoe
AEB
White balance bracketing
Maximum flash synchronize 1/180 secs -
Exposure
Multisegment exposure
Average exposure
Spot exposure
Partial exposure
AF area exposure
Center weighted exposure
Video features
Supported video resolutions - 1280 x 720 (30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps)
Highest video resolution None 1280x720
Video data format - MPEG-4
Microphone support
Headphone support
Connectivity
Wireless None Eye-Fi Connected
Bluetooth
NFC
HDMI
USB USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
GPS None None
Physical
Environmental sealing
Water proof
Dust proof
Shock proof
Crush proof
Freeze proof
Weight 479 grams (1.06 lbs) 194 grams (0.43 lbs)
Dimensions 130 x 95 x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") 102 x 58 x 29mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.1")
DXO scores
DXO All around score not tested not tested
DXO Color Depth score not tested not tested
DXO Dynamic range score not tested not tested
DXO Low light score not tested not tested
Other
Battery model - NP-BG1
Self timer Yes (2 or 12 sec) Yes (2 or 10 sec, Portrait 1/2)
Time lapse recording
Storage type Compact Flash (Type I or II), xD Picture Card SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo/Memory Stick Pro Duo, Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo
Card slots One One
Pricing at launch $600 $199