Olympus E-510 vs Olympus SH-50

Below is a thorough analysis of the Olympus E-510 and Olympus SH-50, one being a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both are produced by Olympus. There exists a huge gap among the image resolutions of the E-510 (10MP) and SH-50 (16MP) and the E-510 (Four Thirds) and SH-50 (1/2.3") enjoy totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-510 was introduced 6 years prior to the SH-50 and that is a fairly significant gap as far as camera technology is concerned. The two cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera.

Before going straight into a in-depth comparison, below is a short summary of how the E-510 scores versus the SH-50 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-510 and Olympus SH-50. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-510 Gallery and Olympus SH-50 Gallery.

When you are looking to lug around your camera regularly, you are going to need to think about its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-510 has got external dimensions of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") having a weight of 490 grams (1.08 lbs) whilst the Olympus SH-50 has proportions of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-510 and Olympus SH-50 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you are utilizing during that time. The following is the front view proportions comparison of the E-510 versus the SH-50.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-510 and SH-50 is 69 and 88 respectively.

Typically, it is tough to visualise the gap in sensor measurements just by going through specs. The graphic below should offer you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the E-510 and SH-50.

As you can plainly see, both the cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-510 using its larger sensor will make getting shallow DOF simpler and the Olympus SH-50 will provide extra detail using its extra 6MP. Greater resolution will enable you to crop photos a little more aggressively. The older E-510 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.