Olympus E-520 vs Ricoh GR

Below is a in-depth overview of the Olympus E-520 versus Ricoh GR, former being a Entry-Level DSLR while the other is a Large Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Ricoh. There is a substantial difference between the resolutions of the E-520 (10MP) and GR (16MP) and the E-520 (Four Thirds) and GR (APS-C) use totally different sensor sizes.

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The E-520 was launched 5 years earlier than the GR and that is quite a big difference as far as tech is concerned. Both cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-520 being a Compact SLR camera and the Ricoh GR being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before going through a in-depth comparison, below is a short summary of how the E-520 matches up vs the GR with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-520 & Ricoh GR. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus E-520 Gallery & Ricoh GR Gallery.

When you are planning to lug around your camera, you're going to have to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-520 enjoys external measurements of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") along with a weight of 552 grams (1.22 lbs) while the Ricoh GR has dimensions of 117mm x 61mm x 35mm (4.6" x 2.4" x 1.4") along with a weight of 245 grams (0.54 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-520 versus Ricoh GR in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you are utilizing at that moment. Following is the front view scale comparison of the E-520 and the GR.

Considering size and weight, the portability grade of the E-520 and GR is 68 and 90 respectively.

Generally, it's difficult to envision the contrast between sensor measurements simply by going over a spec sheet. The visual here may provide you a clearer sense of the sensor measurements in the E-520 and GR.

Clearly, both the cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-520 due to its tinier sensor will make getting shallow DOF harder and the Ricoh GR will offer you extra detail utilizing its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will help you crop images a little more aggressively. The older E-520 is going to be behind with regard to sensor technology.