Olympus FE-3010 vs Sony NEX-5N

Below, we will be reviewing the Olympus FE-3010 versus Sony NEX-5N, former is a Ultracompact while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap between the image resolutions of the FE-3010 (12MP) and NEX-5N (16MP) and the FE-3010 (1/2.3") and NEX-5N (APS-C) use different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The FE-3010 was revealed 3 years before the NEX-5N which is quite a serious difference as far as technology is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus FE-3010 being a Ultracompact camera and the Sony NEX-5N being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before delving through a in depth comparison, below is a concise overview of how the FE-3010 grades against the NEX-5N in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus FE-3010 & Sony Alpha NEX-5N. The full galleries are available at Olympus FE-3010 Gallery & Sony NEX-5N Gallery.

For anyone who is aiming to carry around your camera frequently, you are going to need to think about its weight and size. The Olympus FE-3010 has got outer measurements of 93mm x 56mm x 18mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.7") with a weight of 108 grams (0.24 lbs) and the Sony NEX-5N has specifications of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") accompanied by a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus FE-3010 versus Sony NEX-5N in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you choose at that moment. Following is the front view dimensions comparison of the FE-3010 against the NEX-5N.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the FE-3010 and NEX-5N is 97 and 89 respectively.

Quite often, it's tough to visualize the gap between sensor sizes purely by going over specs. The picture here may give you a greater sense of the sensor measurements in the FE-3010 and NEX-5N.

As you can plainly see, both of the cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The FE-3010 having a tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF trickier and the Sony NEX-5N will offer extra detail because of its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop photographs much more aggressively. The more aged FE-3010 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.