Olympus E-520 vs Ricoh GR II

On this page, we are looking at the Olympus E-520 and Ricoh GR II, one is a Entry-Level DSLR and the other is a Large Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Ricoh. There exists a sizeable gap between the sensor resolutions of the E-520 (10MP) and GR II (16MP) and the E-520 (Four Thirds) and GR II (APS-C) offer totally different sensor measurements.

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The E-520 was announced 7 years earlier than the GR II which is quite a large gap as far as technology is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-520 being a Compact SLR camera and the Ricoh GR II being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before diving into a full comparison, here is a short summary of how the E-520 matches up versus the GR II with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-520 and Ricoh GR II. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-520 Gallery and Ricoh GR II Gallery.

If you're planning to carry around your camera often, you'll need to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-520 offers physical measurements of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") with a weight of 552 grams (1.22 lbs) whilst the Ricoh GR II has sizing of 117mm x 63mm x 35mm (4.6" x 2.5" x 1.4") accompanied by a weight of 251 grams (0.55 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-520 and Ricoh GR II in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you are employing at that time. Below is a front view dimension comparison of the E-520 and the GR II.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-520 and GR II is 68 and 89 respectively.

More often than not, it is very difficult to envision the gap between sensor sizes just by looking at a spec sheet. The pic below may offer you a stronger sense of the sensor sizing in the E-520 and GR II.

Clearly, both of the cameras have different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The E-520 having a tinier sensor will make getting shallow depth of field tougher and the Ricoh GR II will give greater detail with its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop pics a bit more aggressively. The more aged E-520 is going to be behind with regard to sensor technology.