Olympus E-510 vs Olympus 550WP

Lets look a bit more closely at the Olympus E-510 vs Olympus 550WP, former is a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and both are built by Olympus. The resolution of the E-510 (10MP) and the 550WP (10MP) is relatively similar but the E-510 (Four Thirds) and 550WP (1/2.3") feature totally different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-510 was announced 13 months earlier than the 550WP which makes the cameras a generation away from one another. Both the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus 550WP being a Compact camera.

Before we go in to a in-depth comparison, below is a quick view of how the E-510 scores against the 550WP with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-510 & Olympus Stylus 550WP. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-510 Gallery & Olympus 550WP Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to travel with your camera frequently, you're going to have to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-510 has got physical measurements of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") with a weight of 490 grams (1.08 lbs) whilst the Olympus 550WP has measurements of 94mm x 62mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 0.9") with a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-510 vs Olympus 550WP in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you are working with at the time. Below is the front view measurement comparison of the E-510 compared to the 550WP.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-510 and 550WP is 69 and 94 respectively.

Quite often, it can be hard to envision the gap between sensor dimensions merely by going over a spec sheet. The image here might provide you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-510 and 550WP.

As you can see, the 2 cameras offer the same exact megapixels albeit not the same sensor dimensions. The E-510 provides the bigger sensor which will make achieving shallow depth of field simpler. The more aged E-510 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor tech.