Olympus E-510 vs Sony A500

Let's look a little more in depth at the Olympus E-510 and Sony A500, one being a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by brands Olympus and Sony. The image resolution of the E-510 (10MP) and the A500 (12MP) is fairly close but the E-510 (Four Thirds) and A500 (APS-C) possess different sensor measurements.

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The E-510 was revealed 21 months prior to the A500 making the cameras a generation apart from each other. Both cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before we go straight into a complete comparison, below is a concise highlight of how the E-510 grades against the A500 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-510 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A500. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-510 Gallery and Sony A500 Gallery.

If you're intending to lug around your camera frequently, you are going to need to factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-510 has got outside measurements of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") and a weight of 490 grams (1.08 lbs) whilst the Sony A500 has measurements of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") and a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-510 and Sony A500 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you have chosen at that moment. The following is the front view over all size comparison of the E-510 vs the A500.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the E-510 and A500 is 69 and 63 respectively.

Often, it's difficult to picture the gap in sensor measurements purely by viewing a spec sheet. The photograph underneath will give you a greater sense of the sensor measurements in the E-510 and A500.

As you can see, both of the cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-510 using its smaller sensor is going to make shooting bokeh harder and the Sony A500 will result in extra detail because of its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also help you crop pics a little more aggressively. The older E-510 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor tech.