Olympus E-500 vs Sony WX500

Following is a in depth analysis of the Olympus E-500 and Sony WX500, former is a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Sony. There exists a noticeable gap between the sensor resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and WX500 (18MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and WX500 (1/2.3") posses totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-500 was launched 10 years before the WX500 which is quite a sizable difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony WX500 being a Compact camera.

Before getting right into a complete comparison, here is a concise overview of how the E-500 scores against the WX500 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-500 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX500. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Sony WX500 Gallery.

For those who are intending to carry around your camera, you will want to factor its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-500 provides external dimensions of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") along with a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) and the Sony WX500 has dimensions of 102mm x 58mm x 36mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.4") accompanied by a weight of 236 grams (0.52 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-500 and Sony WX500 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you choose at that moment. Below is a front view measurements comparison of the E-500 compared to the WX500.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and WX500 is 70 and 91 respectively.

Normally, it's hard to envision the contrast between sensor sizes simply by looking at technical specs. The picture below will help provide you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-500 and WX500.

As you can tell, both the cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-500 featuring a larger sensor will make shooting shallow DOF easier and the Sony WX500 will give you more detail utilizing its extra 10MP. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop pics a good deal more aggressively. The more aged E-500 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor technology.