Olympus FE-5020 vs Sony A58

Below is a comprehensive review of the Olympus FE-5020 versus Sony A58, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a crucial gap among the resolutions of the FE-5020 (12MP) and A58 (20MP) and the FE-5020 (1/2.3") and A58 (APS-C) offer different sensor size.

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The FE-5020 was revealed 5 years before the A58 and that is a fairly serious gap as far as camera technology is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus FE-5020 being a Compact camera and the Sony A58 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting into a step-by-step comparison, here is a brief view of how the FE-5020 scores vs the A58 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus FE-5020 and Sony SLT-A58. The full galleries are provided at Olympus FE-5020 Gallery and Sony A58 Gallery.

When you are planning to lug around your camera regularly, you are going to need to factor its weight and dimensions. The Olympus FE-5020 has got outer dimensions of 93mm x 56mm x 25mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 1.0") having a weight of 137 grams (0.30 lbs) whilst the Sony A58 has dimensions of 129mm x 95mm x 78mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 3.1") accompanied by a weight of 492 grams (1.08 lbs).

Compare the Olympus FE-5020 versus Sony A58 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you are using during that time. Underneath is a front view dimensions comparison of the FE-5020 compared to the A58.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the FE-5020 and A58 is 95 and 68 respectively.

Quite often, it is hard to picture the gap in sensor measurements purely by researching specs. The photograph below might provide you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the FE-5020 and A58.

All in all, the two cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The FE-5020 using its smaller sensor is going to make shooting shallower depth of field harder and the Sony A58 will result in more detail because of its extra 8MP. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop shots more aggressively. The older FE-5020 will be behind with regard to sensor tech.