Olympus FE-47 vs Sony A58

In this article, we are matching up the Olympus FE-47 versus Sony A58, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a substantial difference among the sensor resolutions of the FE-47 (14MP) and A58 (20MP) and the FE-47 (1/2.3") and A58 (APS-C) come with totally different sensor sizing.

Pentax 17 Pre-Orders Outperform Expectations by a Landslide

The FE-47 was unveiled 4 years before the A58 and that is a fairly big difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus FE-47 being a Compact camera and the Sony A58 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving in to a thorough comparison, below is a simple overview of how the FE-47 scores versus the A58 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus FE-47 & Sony SLT-A58. The full galleries are available at Olympus FE-47 Gallery & Sony A58 Gallery.

For those who are looking to lug around your camera often, you'll have to consider its weight and volume. The Olympus FE-47 has exterior measurements of 98mm x 61mm x 27mm (3.9" x 2.4" x 1.1") and a weight of 204 grams (0.45 lbs) while the Sony A58 has sizing of 129mm x 95mm x 78mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 3.1") having a weight of 492 grams (1.08 lbs).

Examine the Olympus FE-47 versus Sony A58 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you use at the time. The following is the front view overall size comparison of the FE-47 against the A58.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability rating of the FE-47 and A58 is 93 and 68 respectively.

Generally, it is tough to visualise the gap in sensor measurements purely by checking out a spec sheet. The graphic below will help offer you a clearer sense of the sensor measurements in the FE-47 and A58.

Clearly, both the cameras offer different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The FE-47 using its smaller sensor will make getting shallow depth of field more difficult and the Sony A58 will show greater detail having an extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will let you crop pics a little more aggressively. The older FE-47 will be behind when it comes to sensor tech.