Olympus E-M5 vs Sony A77

Below, we will be looking at the Olympus E-M5 versus Sony A77, former is a Advanced Mirrorless while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a sizable gap among the resolutions of the E-M5 (16MP) and A77 (24MP) and the E-M5 (Four Thirds) and A77 (APS-C) use different sensor dimensions.

Meta to Introduce 'AI-Generated' Labels for Media starting next month

The E-M5 was unveiled 7 months after the A77 which means that they are of a similar age. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-M5 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A77 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before diving straight into a in-depth comparison, below is a simple synopsis of how the E-M5 grades against the A77 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Sony SLT-A77. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-M5 Gallery & Sony A77 Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to carry around your camera frequently, you will have to think about its weight and size. The Olympus E-M5 has external measurements of 122mm x 89mm x 43mm (4.8" x 3.5" x 1.7") and a weight of 425 grams (0.94 lbs) and the Sony A77 has specifications of 143mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.2") with a weight of 732 grams (1.61 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-M5 versus Sony A77 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you select during that time. Below is the front view sizing comparison of the E-M5 vs the A77.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-M5 and A77 is 81 and 59 respectively.

More often than not, its difficult to picture the contrast in sensor sizes merely by seeing a spec sheet. The pic underneath should give you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-M5 and A77.

As you can see, both of these cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-M5 with its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field tougher and the Sony A77 will provide greater detail having an extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The younger E-M5 should have a benefit with regard to sensor tech.