Olympus E-M10 II vs Sony A290

Below is a in-depth assessment of the Olympus E-M10 II versus Sony A290, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the E-M10 II (16MP) and the A290 (14MP) is pretty comparable but the E-M10 II (Four Thirds) and A290 (APS-C) use totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-M10 II was revealed 5 years later than the A290 and that is a fairly big difference as far as camera technology is concerned. The two cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-M10 II being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A290 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting in to a detailed comparison, below is a short summation of how the E-M10 II scores vs the A290 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus OM-D E-M10 II & Sony Alpha DSLR-A290. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-M10 II Gallery & Sony A290 Gallery.

For those who are going to lug around your camera, you should think about its weight and size. The Olympus E-M10 II provides outside measurements of 120mm x 83mm x 47mm (4.7" x 3.3" x 1.9") along with a weight of 390 grams (0.86 lbs) while the Sony A290 has specifications of 128mm x 97mm x 86mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 3.4") and a weight of 549 grams (1.21 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-M10 II versus Sony A290 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you are working with during that time. Here is the front view proportions comparison of the E-M10 II vs the A290.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-M10 II and A290 is 82 and 66 respectively.

Normally, it's difficult to see the gap in sensor measurements merely by checking out a spec sheet. The photograph below will provide you a more clear sense of the sensor measurements in the E-M10 II and A290.

As you can see, both of the cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-M10 II having a smaller sensor will make shooting shallow DOF trickier and the Olympus E-M10 II will produce greater detail because of its extra 2MP. Higher resolution will make it easier to crop pictures far more aggressively. The younger E-M10 II is going to have an edge when it comes to sensor tech.