Olympus E-M1 vs Sony A100

The following is a comprehensive overview of the Olympus E-M1 versus Sony A100, former is a Pro Mirrorless while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-M1 (16MP) and A100 (10MP) and the E-M1 (Four Thirds) and A100 (APS-C) enjoy different sensor sizes.

Meta to Introduce 'AI-Generated' Labels for Media starting next month

The E-M1 was unveiled 7 years after the A100 which is a fairly large difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-M1 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A100 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going in to a step-by-step comparison, below is a short summation of how the E-M1 grades vs the A100 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A100. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-M1 Gallery & Sony A100 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to travel with your camera, you'll need to factor in its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-M1 enjoys external measurements of 130mm x 94mm x 63mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.5") accompanied by a weight of 497 grams (1.10 lbs) while the Sony A100 has measurements of 133mm x 95mm x 71mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 2.8") accompanied by a weight of 638 grams (1.41 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-M1 versus Sony A100 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you are utilising at that time. Following is the front view dimension comparison of the E-M1 compared to the A100.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-M1 and A100 is 71 and 64 respectively.

Quite often, its hard to visualize the gap in sensor dimensions only by looking through specifications. The image underneath will give you a far better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-M1 and A100.

To sum up, the two cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-M1 with its smaller sensor is going to make shooting shallower depth of field harder and the Olympus E-M1 will result in extra detail having an extra 6MP. Higher resolution will also let you crop photographs a little more aggressively. The fresher E-M1 provides an advantage when it comes to sensor technology.