Olympus E-510 vs Sony A450

Here, we will be contrasting the Olympus E-510 and Sony A450, former is a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. There is a sizable difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-510 (10MP) and A450 (14MP) and the E-510 (Four Thirds) and A450 (APS-C) offer totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The E-510 was brought out 3 years earlier than the A450 which is quite a significant difference as far as tech is concerned. Both of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony A450 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting into a thorough comparison, here is a short view of how the E-510 grades against the A450 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-510 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A450. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-510 Gallery & Sony A450 Gallery.

If you're planning to travel with your camera regularly, you will have to factor in its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-510 comes with exterior dimensions of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") along with a weight of 490 grams (1.08 lbs) while the Sony A450 has measurements of 137mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.2") and a weight of 560 grams (1.23 lbs).

See the Olympus E-510 and Sony A450 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are employing at that time. Below is a front view size comparison of the E-510 vs the A450.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the E-510 and A450 is 69 and 65 respectively.

Usually, it can be tough to envision the contrast between sensor dimensions simply by reviewing a spec sheet. The image below will give you a clearer sense of the sensor sizes in the E-510 and A450.

As you can see, each of the cameras come with different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-510 featuring a tinier sensor will make achieving shallow DOF harder and the Sony A450 will offer you more detail having its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also allow you to crop pictures a good deal more aggressively. The more aged E-510 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.