Olympus FE-5020 vs Sony HX99

Its time to look closer at the Olympus FE-5020 vs Sony HX99, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Sony. There is a significant difference between the sensor resolutions of the FE-5020 (12MP) and HX99 (18MP) and the FE-5020 (1/2.3") and HX99 (1/2.3-inch) possess different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The FE-5020 was manufactured 10 years before the HX99 and that is quite a sizable gap as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras offer the identical body type (Compact).

Before delving straight into a thorough comparison, below is a short summation of how the FE-5020 matches up versus the HX99 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus FE-5020 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX99. The entire galleries are available at Olympus FE-5020 Gallery and Sony HX99 Gallery.

If you are planning to lug around your camera, you're going to have to factor in its weight and measurements. The Olympus FE-5020 provides exterior measurements of 93mm x 56mm x 25mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 1.0") and a weight of 137 grams (0.30 lbs) and the Sony HX99 has proportions of 102mm x 58mm x 36mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.4") along with a weight of 242 grams (0.53 lbs).

Check out the Olympus FE-5020 vs Sony HX99 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you are utilizing during that time. Here is the front view physical size comparison of the FE-5020 versus the HX99.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability rating of the FE-5020 and HX99 is 95 and 91 respectively.

Usually, it is very tough to picture the difference between sensor measurements purely by checking a spec sheet. The visual here will help give you a more clear sense of the sensor measurements in the FE-5020 and HX99.

As you can see, each of these cameras enjoy different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The FE-5020 due to its bigger sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field simpler and the Sony HX99 will give you more detail due to its extra 6MP. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop pictures far more aggressively. The older FE-5020 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor technology.