Olympus 550WP vs Sony A500

Its time to look more closely at the Olympus 550WP versus Sony A500, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the 550WP (10MP) and the A500 (12MP) is pretty well matched but the 550WP (1/2.3") and A500 (APS-C) boast different sensor dimensions.

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The 550WP was released 7 months prior to the A500 which means that they are both of a similar age. Both of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus 550WP being a Compact camera and the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving right into a comprehensive comparison, here is a simple synopsis of how the 550WP matches up vs the A500 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus Stylus 550WP & Sony Alpha DSLR-A500. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus 550WP Gallery & Sony A500 Gallery.

For those who are aiming to lug around your camera regularly, you are going to need to factor its weight and size. The Olympus 550WP has external dimensions of 94mm x 62mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 0.9") with a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs) whilst the Sony A500 has specifications of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") with a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs).

Examine the Olympus 550WP versus Sony A500 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you are working with at the time. The following is a front view over all size comparison of the 550WP versus the A500.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability score of the 550WP and A500 is 94 and 63 respectively.

In many cases, it is tough to visualize the gap between sensor measurements merely by looking at a spec sheet. The graphic below will help provide you a clearer sense of the sensor dimensions in the 550WP and A500.

As you can see, both of the cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The 550WP featuring a tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallower DOF more challenging and the Sony A500 will give extra detail as a result of its extra 2MP. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop pictures a good deal more aggressively. The older 550WP is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.