Olympus E-500 vs Sony HX100V

Below is a in-depth assessment of the Olympus E-500 vs Sony HX100V, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a sizable gap among the resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and HX100V (16MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and HX100V (1/2.3") have totally different sensor size.

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The E-500 was manufactured 7 years prior to the HX100V and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony HX100V being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before diving right into a in depth comparison, here is a concise summary of how the E-500 scores against the HX100V in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-500 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX100V. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Sony HX100V Gallery.

If you're looking to lug around your camera regularly, you will have to factor in its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-500 has outside measurements of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") having a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) whilst the Sony HX100V has measurements of 122mm x 87mm x 93mm (4.8" x 3.4" x 3.7") and a weight of 577 grams (1.27 lbs).

See the Olympus E-500 vs Sony HX100V in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you use at that time. Here is a front view physical size comparison of the E-500 compared to the HX100V.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and HX100V is 70 and 66 respectively.

Sometimes, it can be hard to envision the gap in sensor measurements purely by seeing technical specs. The visual below will help give you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-500 and HX100V.

As you can tell, both the cameras come with different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-500 featuring a larger sensor will make achieving shallow DOF less difficult and the Sony HX100V will show extra detail due to its extra 8 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also let you crop pics a good deal more aggressively. The older E-500 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor tech.