Olympus SH-50 vs Sony A500

The following is a in depth assessment of the Olympus SH-50 and Sony A500, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. There is a large difference between the sensor resolutions of the SH-50 (16MP) and A500 (12MP) and the SH-50 (1/2.3") and A500 (APS-C) enjoy totally different sensor sizes.

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The SH-50 was unveiled 3 years after the A500 which is quite a serious difference as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera and the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving straight into a full comparison, below is a quick summation of how the SH-50 grades vs the A500 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus SH-50 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A500. The full galleries are available at Olympus SH-50 Gallery & Sony A500 Gallery.

In case you're intending to travel with your camera, you are going to need to take into account its weight and measurements. The Olympus SH-50 enjoys outer dimensions of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") having a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs) while the Sony A500 has proportions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") and a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs).

Look at the Olympus SH-50 and Sony A500 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are employing at the time. The following is the front view sizing comparison of the SH-50 against the A500.

Considering size and weight, the portability score of the SH-50 and A500 is 88 and 63 respectively.

Oftentimes, it is hard to see the difference between sensor dimensions only by going over specs. The picture underneath might offer you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the SH-50 and A500.

As you can plainly see, the 2 cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The SH-50 using its tinier sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field more challenging and the Olympus SH-50 will offer you greater detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also help you crop pics somewhat more aggressively. The younger SH-50 will have a benefit when it comes to sensor tech.