Olympus E-500 vs Sony HX300

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Olympus E-500 and Sony HX300, one is a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Sony. There is a sizeable difference among the image resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and HX300 (20MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and HX300 (1/2.3") have different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-500 was announced 8 years prior to the HX300 which is a fairly large gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony HX300 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before diving straight to a step-by-step comparison, here is a simple summary of how the E-500 scores vs the HX300 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-500 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-500 Gallery and Sony HX300 Gallery.

When you are looking to carry around your camera regularly, you should take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-500 has got external 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 HX300 has sizing of 130mm x 103mm x 93mm (5.1" x 4.1" x 3.7") accompanied by a weight of 623 grams (1.37 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-500 and Sony HX300 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you have at that time. The following is a front view dimensions comparison of the E-500 compared to the HX300.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and HX300 is 70 and 63 respectively.

Often, it can be difficult to visualize the difference in sensor sizes only by seeing specs. The pic here will help provide you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-500 and HX300.

All in all, both cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The E-500 with its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF easier and the Sony HX300 will provide more detail with its extra 12 Megapixels. Greater resolution will help you crop pics more aggressively. The more aged E-500 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.