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Olympus E-500 vs Sony W560

Portability
70
Imaging
41
Features
34
Overall
38
Olympus E-500 front
 
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W560 front
Portability
96
Imaging
37
Features
28
Overall
33

Olympus E-500 vs Sony W560 Key Specs

Olympus E-500
(Full Review)
  • 8MP - Four Thirds Sensor
  • 2.5" Fixed Display
  • ISO 100 - 400 (Push to 1600)
  • No Video
  • Micro Four Thirds Mount
  • 479g - 130 x 95 x 66mm
  • Introduced October 2005
  • Alternative Name is EVOLT E-500
  • Refreshed by Olympus E-510
Sony W560
(Full Review)
  • 14MP - 1/2.3" Sensor
  • 3" Fixed Screen
  • ISO 80 - 3200
  • Optical Image Stabilization
  • 1280 x 720 video
  • 26-104mm (F2.7-5.7) lens
  • 110g - 94 x 56 x 19mm
  • Released January 2011
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Olympus E-500 vs Sony W560 Overview

Its time to look a bit more closely at the Olympus E-500 and Sony W560, one is a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Ultracompact by competitors Olympus and Sony. There is a big difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and W560 (14MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and W560 (1/2.3") feature totally different sensor sizes.

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The E-500 was unveiled 6 years prior to the W560 which is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Both cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony W560 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before going in to a full comparison, below is a short summary of how the E-500 grades against the W560 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

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Reasons to pick Olympus E-500 over the Sony W560

 E-500 W560 
Focus manually More precise focus

Reasons to pick Sony W560 over the Olympus E-500

 W560 E-500 
ReleasedJanuary 2011October 2005More modern by 63 months
Screen dimension3"2.5"Bigger screen (+0.5")
Screen resolution230k215kSharper screen (+15k dot)

Common features in the Olympus E-500 and Sony W560

 E-500 W560 
Screen typeFixed Fixed Fixed screen
Selfie screen Neither includes selfie screen
Touch screen Lack of Touch screen

Olympus E-500 vs Sony W560 Physical Comparison

For anyone who is planning to carry around your camera often, you'll have to think about its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-500 features physical dimensions of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") accompanied by a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) whilst the Sony W560 has measurements of 94mm x 56mm x 19mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.7") with a weight of 110 grams (0.24 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-500 and Sony W560 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool. Camera Size Comparison with Lenses

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you use at that time. Following is the front view dimension comparison of the E-500 against the W560.

Olympus E-500 vs Sony W560 size comparison

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the E-500 and W560 is 70 and 96 respectively.

Olympus E-500 vs Sony W560 top view buttons comparison

Olympus E-500 vs Sony W560 Sensor Comparison

Oftentimes, it's hard to visualise the contrast between sensor sizes only by looking at specifications. The image below will help give you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the E-500 and W560.

Plainly, both of the cameras have got different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The E-500 with its bigger sensor will make getting shallower depth of field simpler and the Sony W560 will give extra detail having an extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also help you crop photographs much more aggressively. The more aged E-500 is going to be behind in sensor innovation.

Olympus E-500 vs Sony W560 sensor size comparison

Olympus E-500 vs Sony W560 Screen and ViewFinder

Olympus E-500 vs Sony W560 Screen and Viewfinder comparison
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Photography Type Scores

Portrait Comparison

Olympus E-500 Portrait photography factors
Sony W560 Portrait photography factors
48
focusing manually
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
exports RAW files
does not have liveview
low megapixels (8MP)
28
good megapixels (14MP)
manual focus not available
manual exposure not available
external flash not possible
very small sensor size (1/2.3")
has no RAW format
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Street Comparison

Olympus E-500 Street photography features
Sony W560 Street photography features
56
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
exports RAW files
lighter than average in class (479 grams)
no moving screen
does not have image stabilization
maximum ISO low (400)
57
image stabilization (Optical)
screen is fixed
very small sensor size (1/2.3")
has no RAW format
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Sports Comparison

Olympus E-500 Sports photography information
Sony W560 Sports photography information
37
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
has phase detect AF
does not have liveview
very slow continuous shooting (3.0 frames per second)
does not have image stabilization
low megapixels (8 megapixels)
35
image stabilization (Optical)
good megapixels (14 megapixels)
continuous shooting slow (1.0 frames/s)
lack of shutter priority mode
very small sensor size (1/2.3")
has no phase detect autofocus
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Travel Comparison

Olympus E-500 Travel photography features
Sony W560 Travel photography features
52
lighter than average in class (479g)
has built in flash
does not have Time Lapse recording
low megapixels (8MP)
doesn't have a selfie friendly display
65
good megapixels (14MP)
has built in flash
quite wide (26mm)
doesn't have Timelapse recording
doesn't have selfie friendly display
sluggish maximum aperture (f2.7)
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Landscape Comparison

Olympus E-500 Landscape photography information
Sony W560 Landscape photography information
43
focusing manually
interchangeable lenses (Micro Four Thirds mount)
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
exports RAW files
screen is somewhat small (2.5 inch)
does not have liveview
does not have image stabilization
low megapixels (8 megapixels)
maximum ISO low (400)
does not have Time Lapse recording
42
quite wide (26mm)
good sized screen (3 inch)
image stabilization (Optical)
good megapixels (14 megapixels)
manual focus not available
cannot swap lens (fixed lens mount)
sluggish maximum aperture (f2.7)
manual exposure not available
very small sensor size (1/2.3")
has no RAW format
doesn't have Timelapse recording
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Vlogging Comparison

Olympus E-500 as a Vlogging camera
Sony W560 as a Vlogging camera
9
lack of video recording
29
quite wide (26mm)
image stabilization (Optical)
sluggish maximum aperture (f2.7)
doesn't have selfie friendly display
low res video (1280 x 720 pxls)
doesn't have external microphone jack
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Olympus E-500 vs Sony W560 Specifications

Detailed spec comparison table for Olympus E-500 and Sony W560
 Olympus E-500Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W560
General Information
Company Olympus Sony
Model Olympus E-500 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W560
Alternate name EVOLT E-500 -
Class Advanced DSLR Ultracompact
Introduced 2005-10-21 2011-01-06
Body design Mid-size SLR Ultracompact
Sensor Information
Chip - 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 14MP
Anti aliasing filter
Aspect ratio 4:3 4:3 and 16:9
Maximum resolution 3264 x 2448 4320 x 3240
Maximum native ISO 400 3200
Maximum boosted ISO 1600 -
Lowest native ISO 100 80
RAW images
Autofocusing
Focus manually
Touch to focus
Continuous AF
AF single
AF tracking
AF selectice
Center weighted AF
AF multi area
Live view AF
Face detect focusing
Contract detect focusing
Phase detect focusing
Number of focus points 3 9
Lens
Lens mount Micro Four Thirds fixed lens
Lens focal range - 26-104mm (4.0x)
Largest aperture - f/2.7-5.7
Macro focus distance - 5cm
Amount of lenses 45 -
Focal length multiplier 2.1 5.8
Screen
Range of display Fixed Type Fixed Type
Display diagonal 2.5" 3"
Display resolution 215 thousand dot 230 thousand dot
Selfie friendly
Liveview
Touch functionality
Display tech - Clear Photo LCD
Viewfinder Information
Viewfinder type Optical (pentaprism) None
Viewfinder coverage 95% -
Viewfinder magnification 0.45x -
Features
Slowest shutter speed 60 seconds 2 seconds
Maximum shutter speed 1/4000 seconds 1/1600 seconds
Continuous shooting speed 3.0 frames/s 1.0 frames/s
Shutter priority
Aperture priority
Manual exposure
Exposure compensation Yes -
Custom WB
Image stabilization
Integrated flash
Flash range 13.00 m (at ISO 100) 3.80 m
Flash modes Auto, Auto FP, Manual, Red-Eye Auto, On, Off, Slow Sync
External flash
AEB
White balance bracketing
Maximum flash sync 1/180 seconds -
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)
Maximum video resolution None 1280x720
Video data format - MPEG-4
Microphone input
Headphone input
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 seal
Water proof
Dust proof
Shock proof
Crush proof
Freeze proof
Weight 479 grams (1.06 pounds) 110 grams (0.24 pounds)
Dimensions 130 x 95 x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") 94 x 56 x 19mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.7")
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-BN1
Self timer Yes (2 or 12 sec) Yes (2 or 10 sec, Portrait 1/2)
Time lapse recording
Storage media Compact Flash (Type I or II), xD Picture Card SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo/Memory Stick Pro Duo, Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo
Storage slots 1 1
Retail pricing $600 $139