Olympus E-510 vs Sony NEX-5N

The following is a extensive comparison of the Olympus E-510 and Sony NEX-5N, one is a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a big gap between the resolutions of the E-510 (10MP) and NEX-5N (16MP) and the E-510 (Four Thirds) and NEX-5N (APS-C) boast different sensor measurements.

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The E-510 was introduced 4 years earlier than the NEX-5N which is quite a big gap as far as technology is concerned. Both cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony NEX-5N being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting right into a step-by-step comparison, here is a brief summation of how the E-510 grades versus the NEX-5N in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-510 and Sony Alpha NEX-5N. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-510 Gallery and Sony NEX-5N Gallery.

If you're planning to travel with your camera, you'll have to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-510 comes with outer 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 Sony NEX-5N has dimensions of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") having a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-510 and Sony NEX-5N in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you are working with at that time. Following is a front view dimensions comparison of the E-510 and the NEX-5N.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-510 and NEX-5N is 69 and 89 respectively.

Quite often, it is tough to visualize the gap between sensor dimensions only by looking at technical specs. The picture here should offer you a stronger sense of the sensor sizes in the E-510 and NEX-5N.

As you have seen, both of these cameras come with different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-510 with its tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF more challenging and the Sony NEX-5N will resolve extra detail using its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop photos a good deal more aggressively. The more aged E-510 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.