Olympus E-M1 vs Sony A550

Its time to look much closer at the Olympus E-M1 and Sony A550, former being a Pro Mirrorless while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the E-M1 (16MP) and the A550 (14MP) is pretty similar but the E-M1 (Four Thirds) and A550 (APS-C) feature totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-M1 was revealed 3 years later than the A550 and that is quite a significant difference as far as 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 A550 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving through a comprehensive comparison, below is a short overview of how the E-M1 matches up vs the A550 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A550. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-M1 Gallery & Sony A550 Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to lug around your camera regularly, you will have to take into account its weight and size. The Olympus E-M1 features external dimensions of 130mm x 94mm x 63mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.5") along with a weight of 497 grams (1.10 lbs) while the Sony A550 has specifications of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") accompanied by a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-M1 and Sony A550 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you choose at the time. The following is the front view over all size comparison of the E-M1 vs the A550.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-M1 and A550 is 71 and 63 respectively.

Sometimes, it can be tough to visualise the gap between sensor measurements simply by going over specifications. The graphic here may provide you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-M1 and A550.

Plainly, both of those cameras offer different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-M1 using its tinier sensor will make getting shallower depth of field more difficult and the Olympus E-M1 will offer extra detail because of its extra 2MP. Higher resolution will also let you crop photographs a little more aggressively. The newer E-M1 will have an advantage when it comes to sensor innovation.