Olympus E-510 vs Sony HX200V

Its time to look much closer at the Olympus E-510 and Sony HX200V, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Sony. There is a sizable difference among the resolutions of the E-510 (10MP) and HX200V (18MP) and the E-510 (Four Thirds) and HX200V (1/2.3") feature different sensor dimensions.

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The E-510 was released 5 years earlier than the HX200V and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera tech is concerned. The two cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony HX200V being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before we go straight into a full comparison, below is a short overview of how the E-510 scores vs the HX200V with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-510 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-510 Gallery & Sony HX200V Gallery.

For anyone who is planning to carry your camera frequently, you need to factor its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-510 has got external measurements of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") with a weight of 490 grams (1.08 lbs) while the Sony HX200V has proportions of 122mm x 87mm x 93mm (4.8" x 3.4" x 3.7") accompanied by a weight of 583 grams (1.29 lbs).

See the Olympus E-510 and Sony HX200V in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you are using during that time. Following is the front view physical size comparison of the E-510 vs the HX200V.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability rating of the E-510 and HX200V is 69 and 66 respectively.

Generally, it is hard to picture the contrast in sensor sizing only by looking through specifications. The graphic below will help give you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-510 and HX200V.

To sum up, the two cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The E-510 featuring a larger sensor is going to make shooting shallower DOF less difficult and the Sony HX200V will result in greater detail as a result of its extra 8 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The older E-510 will be behind with regard to sensor tech.