Olympus E-520 vs Sony T99

Here is a extended assessment of the Olympus E-520 and Sony T99, former being a Entry-Level DSLR while the other is a Ultracompact by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There is a considerable difference between the resolutions of the E-520 (10MP) and T99 (14MP) and the E-520 (Four Thirds) and T99 (1/2.3") boast totally different sensor sizing.

Pentax 17 Pre-Orders Outperform Expectations by a Landslide

The E-520 was revealed 22 months before the T99 making them a generation apart from each other. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-520 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony T99 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before going right into a comprehensive comparison, here is a short synopsis of how the E-520 matches up vs the T99 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-520 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T99. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-520 Gallery & Sony T99 Gallery.

If you're intending to carry your camera frequently, you are going to need to take into account its weight and volume. 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) and the Sony T99 has sizing of 93mm x 56mm x 17mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.7") having a weight of 121 grams (0.27 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-520 and Sony T99 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you choose during that time. Below is a front view sizing comparison of the E-520 versus the T99.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the E-520 and T99 is 68 and 96 respectively.

In many cases, its hard to visualise the difference between sensor sizing merely by looking at a spec sheet. The visual here will help offer you a better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-520 and T99.

Clearly, both of these cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E-520 having a larger sensor will make achieving shallower DOF easier and the Sony T99 will give you extra detail because of its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will also let you crop photos more aggressively. The older E-520 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor technology.