Olympus E-M5 vs Sony A100

Below is a detailed assessment of the Olympus E-M5 vs Sony A100, one being a Advanced Mirrorless and the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a significant gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-M5 (16MP) and A100 (10MP) and the E-M5 (Four Thirds) and A100 (APS-C) possess different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-M5 was unveiled 5 years later than the A100 and that is a fairly sizable gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-M5 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A100 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting through a comprehensive comparison, below is a brief summary of how the E-M5 grades vs the A100 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A100. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-M5 Gallery and Sony A100 Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to lug around your camera frequently, you should consider its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-M5 comes with external dimensions of 122mm x 89mm x 43mm (4.8" x 3.5" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 425 grams (0.94 lbs) and the Sony A100 has dimensions of 133mm x 95mm x 71mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 2.8") having a weight of 638 grams (1.41 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-M5 vs Sony A100 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you have attached at the time. Following is the front view size comparison of the E-M5 versus the A100.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-M5 and A100 is 81 and 64 respectively.

Quite often, it is difficult to imagine the contrast in sensor measurements only by viewing specs. The graphic here should offer you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-M5 and A100.

All in all, both of the cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-M5 using its smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field tougher and the Olympus E-M5 will result in more detail having an extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The more modern E-M5 provides a benefit when it comes to sensor technology.