Olympus FE-4000 vs Sony A100

Its time to examine more in depth at the Olympus FE-4000 and Sony A100, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the FE-4000 (12MP) and the A100 (10MP) is pretty close but the FE-4000 (1/2.3") and A100 (APS-C) come with totally different sensor size.

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The FE-4000 was revealed 3 years after the A100 which is a fairly serious gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus FE-4000 being a Compact camera and the Sony A100 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting in to a complete comparison, below is a short introduction of how the FE-4000 matches up versus the A100 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus FE-4000 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A100. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus FE-4000 Gallery and Sony A100 Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to carry around your camera often, you are going to need to factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus FE-4000 offers outside dimensions of 95mm x 57mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") along with a weight of 136 grams (0.30 lbs) while the Sony A100 has measurements of 133mm x 95mm x 71mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 2.8") having a weight of 638 grams (1.41 lbs).

Check out the Olympus FE-4000 and Sony A100 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you are employing during that time. Underneath is the front view physical size comparison of the FE-4000 against the A100.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the FE-4000 and A100 is 95 and 64 respectively.

Quite often, it can be tough to visualise the gap in sensor sizes just by looking through technical specs. The pic below should provide you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the FE-4000 and A100.

As you can tell, the two cameras enjoy different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The FE-4000 using its smaller sensor will make shooting shallower DOF harder and the Olympus FE-4000 will result in extra detail because of its extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop shots far more aggressively. The newer FE-4000 is going to have an edge when it comes to sensor tech.