Olympus XZ-10 vs Sony NEX-5

Its time to look a bit more closely at the Olympus XZ-10 and Sony NEX-5, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by brands Olympus and Sony. The image resolution of the XZ-10 (12MP) and the NEX-5 (14MP) is relatively well matched but the XZ-10 (1/2.3") and NEX-5 (APS-C) posses totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The XZ-10 was unveiled 2 years later than the NEX-5 and that is quite a sizable gap as far as tech is concerned. Each of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus XZ-10 being a Compact camera and the Sony NEX-5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting straight to a in depth comparison, here is a simple highlight of how the XZ-10 matches up versus the NEX-5 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus Stylus XZ-10 and Sony Alpha NEX-5. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus XZ-10 Gallery and Sony NEX-5 Gallery.

If you're going to lug around your camera, you'll need to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus XZ-10 offers physical measurements of 102mm x 61mm x 34mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 1.3") with a weight of 221 grams (0.49 lbs) and the Sony NEX-5 has dimensions of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") with a weight of 287 grams (0.63 lbs).

Check the Olympus XZ-10 and Sony NEX-5 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you select at the time. Underneath is a front view overall size comparison of the XZ-10 and the NEX-5.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability rating of the XZ-10 and NEX-5 is 91 and 89 respectively.

Usually, its difficult to visualise the contrast between sensor measurements merely by looking at specifications. The graphic here may give you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the XZ-10 and NEX-5.

Plainly, both of the cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The XZ-10 with its tinier sensor will make shooting shallower depth of field tougher and the Sony NEX-5 will give you more detail having an extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution will allow you to crop photographs a good deal more aggressively. The fresher XZ-10 will have an edge in sensor innovation.