Olympus E-M5 vs Sony QX100

Let's look a little more in depth at the Olympus E-M5 and Sony QX100, one being a Advanced Mirrorless and the other is a Lens-style by companies Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the E-M5 (16MP) and the QX100 (20MP) is fairly close but the E-M5 (Four Thirds) and QX100 (1") come with different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The E-M5 was announced 16 months before the QX100 making the cameras a generation apart from each other. Both of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-M5 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony QX100 being a Lens-style camera.

Before delving in to a thorough comparison, below is a concise summary of how the E-M5 grades against the QX100 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-QX100. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-M5 Gallery and Sony QX100 Gallery.

In case you're planning to lug around your camera frequently, you're going to have to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-M5 comes with physical measurements of 122mm x 89mm x 43mm (4.8" x 3.5" x 1.7") with a weight of 425 grams (0.94 lbs) whilst the Sony QX100 has sizing of 63mm x 63mm x 56mm (2.5" x 2.5" x 2.2") along with a weight of 179 grams (0.39 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-M5 and Sony QX100 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you choose at that moment. Underneath is the front view dimension comparison of the E-M5 and the QX100.

Considering size and weight, the portability rating of the E-M5 and QX100 is 81 and 92 respectively.

In many cases, its difficult to picture the contrast in sensor measurements simply by viewing technical specs. The graphic here will offer you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-M5 and QX100.

As you have seen, both of the cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-M5 with its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF less difficult and the Sony QX100 will result in more detail with its extra 4MP. Greater resolution can also let you crop pics a little more aggressively. The older E-M5 will be disadvantaged in sensor technology.