Olympus E-M5 vs Olympus SP-590 UZ

Let's look a bit more closely at the Olympus E-M5 versus Olympus SP-590 UZ, former is a Advanced Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both of them are created by Olympus. There is a sizable difference between the image resolutions of the E-M5 (16MP) and SP-590 UZ (12MP) and the E-M5 (Four Thirds) and SP-590 UZ (1/2.3") posses totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-M5 was manufactured 3 years after the SP-590 UZ which is quite a significant difference as far as tech is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-M5 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Olympus SP-590 UZ being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before getting straight to a thorough comparison, here is a simple view of how the E-M5 scores versus the SP-590 UZ in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus SP-590 UZ. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-M5 Gallery & Olympus SP-590 UZ Gallery.

When you are aiming to carry around your camera often, you will want to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-M5 has external measurements of 122mm x 89mm x 43mm (4.8" x 3.5" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 425 grams (0.94 lbs) while the Olympus SP-590 UZ has sizing of 116mm x 84mm x 81mm (4.6" x 3.3" x 3.2") along with a weight of 413 grams (0.91 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-M5 versus Olympus SP-590 UZ in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you are utilising at that time. Here is a front view measurements comparison of the E-M5 versus the SP-590 UZ.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the E-M5 and SP-590 UZ is 81 and 72 respectively.

Often, it is very hard to see the difference between sensor sizes purely by reading specs. The picture below will help offer you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the E-M5 and SP-590 UZ.

All in all, both of the cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-M5 featuring a bigger sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field easier and the Olympus E-M5 will deliver extra detail due to its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop pictures more aggressively. The fresher E-M5 will have an advantage with regard to sensor technology.