Olympus FE-5010 vs Sony A55

On this page, we will be reviewing the Olympus FE-5010 vs Sony A55, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a huge gap among the sensor resolutions of the FE-5010 (12MP) and A55 (16MP) and the FE-5010 (1/2.3") and A55 (APS-C) offer different sensor sizes.

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The FE-5010 was launched 19 months earlier than the A55 which makes them a generation apart from one another. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus FE-5010 being a Compact camera and the Sony A55 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving into a thorough comparison, here is a short synopsis of how the FE-5010 scores against the A55 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus FE-5010 and Sony SLT-A55. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus FE-5010 Gallery and Sony A55 Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to lug around your camera often, you will want to think about its weight and proportions. The Olympus FE-5010 provides outer dimensions of 96mm x 57mm x 21mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.8") with a weight of 130 grams (0.29 lbs) while the Sony A55 has measurements of 124mm x 92mm x 85mm (4.9" x 3.6" x 3.3") with a weight of 500 grams (1.10 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus FE-5010 vs Sony A55 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you are using at the time. Following is a front view sizing comparison of the FE-5010 vs the A55.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the FE-5010 and A55 is 96 and 67 respectively.

Sometimes, its tough to visualize the difference in sensor measurements merely by checking out specs. The graphic below will provide you a stronger sense of the sensor sizes in the FE-5010 and A55.

As you can plainly see, both of the cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The FE-5010 featuring a smaller sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF tougher and the Sony A55 will show more detail utilizing its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will enable you to crop photographs more aggressively. The older FE-5010 will be disadvantaged in sensor tech.