Olympus FE-45 vs Sony A58

Its time to take a deeper look at the Olympus FE-45 and Sony A58, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. There exists a big gap among the resolutions of the FE-45 (10MP) and A58 (20MP) and the FE-45 (1/2.3") and A58 (APS-C) use totally different sensor size.

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The FE-45 was announced 5 years earlier than the A58 and that is a fairly big gap as far as camera technology is concerned. The two cameras come with different body type with the Olympus FE-45 being a Compact camera and the Sony A58 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting straight into a complete comparison, below is a simple highlight of how the FE-45 scores vs the A58 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus FE-45 and Sony SLT-A58. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus FE-45 Gallery and Sony A58 Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to lug around your camera, you should think about its weight and measurements. The Olympus FE-45 has got exterior dimensions of 94mm x 62mm x 23mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 0.9") along with a weight of 142 grams (0.31 lbs) and the Sony A58 has proportions of 129mm x 95mm x 78mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 3.1") accompanied by a weight of 492 grams (1.08 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus FE-45 and Sony A58 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you have during that time. The following is the front view sizing comparison of the FE-45 against the A58.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the FE-45 and A58 is 95 and 68 respectively.

Sometimes, its difficult to visualise the gap in sensor measurements just by looking through specs. The visual below will provide you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the FE-45 and A58.

All in all, both the cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The FE-45 having a smaller sensor will make shooting shallower DOF harder and the Sony A58 will render greater detail with its extra 10MP. Higher resolution can also allow you to crop shots somewhat more aggressively. The older FE-45 will be behind in sensor innovation.