Olympus E-500 vs Sony RX100 III

Below, we will be comparing the Olympus E-500 vs Sony RX100 III, former is a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Large Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a noticeable gap between the image resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and RX100 III (20MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and RX100 III (1") come with totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-500 was manufactured 9 years earlier than the RX100 III which is quite a sizable difference as far as technology is concerned. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony RX100 III being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before getting in to a complete comparison, below is a quick summary of how the E-500 scores versus the RX100 III in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-500 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Sony RX100 III Gallery.

If you are aiming to travel with your camera often, you have to factor in its weight and size. The Olympus E-500 features physical measurements 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 RX100 III has specifications of 102mm x 58mm x 41mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.6") accompanied by a weight of 290 grams (0.64 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-500 vs Sony RX100 III in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you are working with at the time. Following is the front view measurements comparison of the E-500 compared to the RX100 III.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-500 and RX100 III is 70 and 89 respectively.

More often than not, its difficult to envision the contrast between sensor dimensions purely by reading through specs. The pic here will help provide you a clearer sense of the sensor measurements in the E-500 and RX100 III.

All in all, both of the cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-500 featuring a bigger sensor will make achieving bokeh easier and the Sony RX100 III will give you extra detail due to its extra 12 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also let you crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The more aged E-500 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.