Olympus E-520 vs Sony WX500

Here, we are looking at the Olympus E-520 and Sony WX500, former is a Entry-Level DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-520 (10MP) and WX500 (18MP) and the E-520 (Four Thirds) and WX500 (1/2.3") boast different sensor sizes.

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The E-520 was manufactured 7 years before the WX500 which is a fairly serious difference as far as camera technology is concerned. The two cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-520 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony WX500 being a Compact camera.

Before delving into a in depth comparison, here is a short overview of how the E-520 scores vs the WX500 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-520 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX500. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-520 Gallery & Sony WX500 Gallery.

In case you're going to travel with your camera often, you need to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-520 features exterior measurements of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") and a weight of 552 grams (1.22 lbs) whilst the Sony WX500 has sizing of 102mm x 58mm x 36mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.4") having a weight of 236 grams (0.52 lbs).

See the Olympus E-520 and Sony WX500 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you choose at that time. The following is a front view overall size comparison of the E-520 against the WX500.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-520 and WX500 is 68 and 91 respectively.

Typically, its difficult to visualize the difference in sensor dimensions simply by going through a spec sheet. The image underneath should provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-520 and WX500.

As you can see, each of the cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The E-520 because of its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallow depth of field easier and the Sony WX500 will show greater detail due to its extra 8MP. Greater resolution will also help you crop images a good deal more aggressively. The more aged E-520 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.