Olympus PEN-F vs Sony A500

Let's take a closer look at the Olympus PEN-F versus Sony A500, former is a Advanced Mirrorless while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap between the resolutions of the PEN-F (20MP) and A500 (12MP) and the PEN-F (Four Thirds) and A500 (APS-C) enjoy totally different sensor dimensions.

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The PEN-F was revealed 6 years after the A500 which is quite a large difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus PEN-F being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going through a full comparison, below is a brief summary of how the PEN-F matches up versus the A500 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN-F & Sony Alpha DSLR-A500. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus PEN-F Gallery & Sony A500 Gallery.

If you are looking to travel with your camera regularly, you will have to consider its weight and size. The Olympus PEN-F offers physical measurements of 125mm x 72mm x 37mm (4.9" x 2.8" x 1.5") with a weight of 427 grams (0.94 lbs) whilst the Sony A500 has specifications of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") and a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs).

Check the Olympus PEN-F versus Sony A500 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you have at the time. The following is the front view scale comparison of the PEN-F against the A500.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability score of the PEN-F and A500 is 84 and 63 respectively.

Typically, it's hard to visualise the difference between sensor dimensions simply by going over specs. The image here will give you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the PEN-F and A500.

All in all, both the cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The PEN-F using its tinier sensor will make achieving bokeh more challenging and the Olympus PEN-F will offer you greater detail because of its extra 8MP. Higher resolution will also allow you to crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The newer PEN-F is going to have an edge in sensor technology.