Olympus E-M1 vs Sony A500

Here, we will be looking at the Olympus E-M1 and Sony A500, former is a Pro Mirrorless while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. There exists a noticeable gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-M1 (16MP) and A500 (12MP) and the E-M1 (Four Thirds) and A500 (APS-C) have different sensor measurements.

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The E-M1 was revealed 4 years after the A500 which is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-M1 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting right into a in-depth comparison, here is a short overview of how the E-M1 grades versus the A500 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A500. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-M1 Gallery & Sony A500 Gallery.

For anyone who is planning to travel with your camera regularly, you'll need to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-M1 provides physical dimensions of 130mm x 94mm x 63mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.5") accompanied by a weight of 497 grams (1.10 lbs) and the Sony A500 has dimensions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") with a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-M1 and Sony A500 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are working with at that moment. The following is a front view measurement comparison of the E-M1 versus the A500.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-M1 and A500 is 71 and 63 respectively.

Typically, it's difficult to picture the contrast in sensor dimensions only by going through specs. The picture below will help provide you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-M1 and A500.

All in all, both of these cameras feature different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-M1 with its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF more challenging and the Olympus E-M1 will produce greater detail because of its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also let you crop shots way more aggressively. The younger E-M1 provides an edge in sensor technology.