Olympus E-520 vs Sony A6500

On this page, we are evaluating the Olympus E-520 versus Sony A6500, former being a Entry-Level DSLR while the other is a Advanced Mirrorless by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There is a sizable difference among the image resolutions of the E-520 (10MP) and A6500 (24MP) and the E-520 (Four Thirds) and A6500 (APS-C) boast different sensor sizing.

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The E-520 was released 9 years prior to the A6500 and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-520 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony A6500 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before we go right into a detailed comparison, here is a simple highlight of how the E-520 grades versus the A6500 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-520 & Sony Alpha a6500. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-520 Gallery & Sony A6500 Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to lug around your camera frequently, you are going to need to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-520 provides outside 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 Sony A6500 has measurements of 120mm x 67mm x 53mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 2.1") having a weight of 453 grams (1.00 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-520 versus Sony A6500 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you choose at that time. Here is a front view sizing comparison of the E-520 and the A6500.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability score of the E-520 and A6500 is 68 and 81 respectively.

Often, it's difficult to imagine the gap in sensor measurements only by looking through technical specs. The visual here should provide you a greater sense of the sensor measurements in the E-520 and A6500.

As you can tell, the two cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-520 featuring a smaller sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field tougher and the Sony A6500 will provide you with greater detail as a result of its extra 14MP. Greater resolution will enable you to crop images more aggressively. The older E-520 will be disadvantaged in sensor technology.