Olympus E-M5 II vs Sony A100

Following is a complete comparison of the Olympus E-M5 II vs Sony A100, former is a Advanced Mirrorless while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. There is a sizable difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-M5 II (16MP) and A100 (10MP) and the E-M5 II (Four Thirds) and A100 (APS-C) posses different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-M5 II was introduced 8 years after the A100 which is quite a significant difference as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-M5 II being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A100 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going into a more detailed comparison, here is a short highlight of how the E-M5 II grades versus the A100 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus OM-D E-M5 II & Sony Alpha DSLR-A100. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-M5 II Gallery & Sony A100 Gallery.

In case you're looking to carry around your camera frequently, you have to think about its weight and size. The Olympus E-M5 II has exterior dimensions of 124mm x 85mm x 45mm (4.9" x 3.3" x 1.8") and a weight of 469 grams (1.03 lbs) while the Sony A100 has specifications of 133mm x 95mm x 71mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 2.8") along with a weight of 638 grams (1.41 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-M5 II vs Sony A100 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you are working with during that time. Following is a front view dimension comparison of the E-M5 II and the A100.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability score of the E-M5 II and A100 is 80 and 64 respectively.

In many cases, it is tough to picture the gap between sensor sizes purely by reading specs. The pic below will give you a more clear sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-M5 II and A100.

As you can plainly see, both of these cameras have different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-M5 II having a tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field more challenging and the Olympus E-M5 II will deliver extra detail using its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop pics a bit more aggressively. The younger E-M5 II should have an advantage with regard to sensor tech.