Olympus E-500 vs Sony QX30

Let's look closer at the Olympus E-500 and Sony QX30, one being a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Lens-style by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a sizeable difference among the image resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and QX30 (20MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and QX30 (1/2.3") come with different sensor dimensions.

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The E-500 was launched 9 years prior to the QX30 and that is a fairly large gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Both cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony QX30 being a Lens-style camera.

Before we go straight into a step-by-step comparison, below is a brief view of how the E-500 scores versus the QX30 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-500 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-QX30. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus E-500 Gallery and Sony QX30 Gallery.

If you're intending to lug around your camera, you have to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus E-500 comes with physical 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 QX30 has sizing of 68mm x 65mm x 58mm (2.7" x 2.6" x 2.3") along with a weight of 193 grams (0.43 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-500 and Sony QX30 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you select at the time. Here is the front view measurements comparison of the E-500 compared to the QX30.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability rating of the E-500 and QX30 is 70 and 91 respectively.

In many cases, its hard to picture the difference in sensor measurements purely by researching technical specs. The graphic here will give you a clearer sense of the sensor measurements in the E-500 and QX30.

As you have seen, both cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-500 featuring a larger sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Sony QX30 will provide you with greater detail utilizing its extra 12 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop images a little more aggressively. The older E-500 will be behind in sensor innovation.