Olympus E-M10 vs Sony A500

In this article, we are evaluating the Olympus E-M10 versus Sony A500, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a noticeable difference among the resolutions of the E-M10 (16MP) and A500 (12MP) and the E-M10 (Four Thirds) and A500 (APS-C) enjoy totally different sensor measurements.

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The E-M10 was launched 4 years after the A500 which is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-M10 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving straight into a step-by-step comparison, below is a short introduction of how the E-M10 matches up versus the A500 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus OM-D E-M10 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A500. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-M10 Gallery & Sony A500 Gallery.

If you are looking to carry around your camera often, you will want to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus E-M10 offers exterior dimensions of 119mm x 82mm x 46mm (4.7" x 3.2" x 1.8") with a weight of 396 grams (0.87 lbs) and the Sony A500 has sizing of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") having a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-M10 versus Sony A500 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are working with at that moment. Here is the front view dimension comparison of the E-M10 and the A500.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability score of the E-M10 and A500 is 82 and 63 respectively.

Usually, its difficult to envision the contrast in sensor sizes purely by viewing a spec sheet. The pic here should provide you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-M10 and A500.

As you can see, both the cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The E-M10 featuring a smaller sensor will make getting shallower depth of field trickier and the Olympus E-M10 will result in extra detail utilizing its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop pics far more aggressively. The more recent E-M10 is going to have an advantage in sensor innovation.