Olympus 7040 vs Sony A100

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Olympus 7040 and Sony A100, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap among the resolutions of the 7040 (14MP) and A100 (10MP) and the 7040 (1/2.3") and A100 (APS-C) have different sensor sizing.

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The 7040 was revealed 3 years after the A100 which is a fairly serious difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus 7040 being a Compact camera and the Sony A100 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving into a thorough comparison, here is a brief overview of how the 7040 grades against the A100 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus Stylus 7040 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A100. The full galleries are available at Olympus 7040 Gallery & Sony A100 Gallery.

For those who are looking to travel with your camera often, you'll have to factor its weight and size. The Olympus 7040 features outer measurements of 95mm x 56mm x 26mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 1.0") with a weight of 144 grams (0.32 lbs) while the Sony A100 has specifications of 133mm x 95mm x 71mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 2.8") with a weight of 638 grams (1.41 lbs).

See the Olympus 7040 and Sony A100 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you have during that time. Here is a front view proportions comparison of the 7040 and the A100.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the 7040 and A100 is 95 and 64 respectively.

Sometimes, its difficult to visualize the contrast in sensor dimensions only by going through a spec sheet. The pic here might offer you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the 7040 and A100.

As you can see, both of the cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The 7040 having a smaller sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF tougher and the Olympus 7040 will provide extra detail because of its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will also let you crop photos a good deal more aggressively. The more recent 7040 provides an edge when it comes to sensor tech.