Olympus XZ-10 vs Sony NEX-5N

Lets look more closely at the Olympus XZ-10 versus Sony NEX-5N, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There is a considerable difference between the sensor resolutions of the XZ-10 (12MP) and NEX-5N (16MP) and the XZ-10 (1/2.3") and NEX-5N (APS-C) have totally different sensor measurements.

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The XZ-10 was unveiled 17 months after the NEX-5N which makes them a generation away from each other. Both cameras feature different body design with the Olympus XZ-10 being a Compact camera and the Sony NEX-5N being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before delving right into a comprehensive comparison, here is a short view of how the XZ-10 matches up against the NEX-5N with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus Stylus XZ-10 & Sony Alpha NEX-5N. The full galleries are available at Olympus XZ-10 Gallery & Sony NEX-5N Gallery.

For anyone who is going to carry around your camera regularly, you will want to factor in its weight and size. The Olympus XZ-10 comes with outer dimensions of 102mm x 61mm x 34mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 1.3") accompanied by a weight of 221 grams (0.49 lbs) and the Sony NEX-5N has specifications of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") accompanied by a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Look at the Olympus XZ-10 versus Sony NEX-5N in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are employing at the time. Here is a front view over all size comparison of the XZ-10 and the NEX-5N.

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

Generally, its difficult to envision the contrast between sensor sizes simply by reading through a spec sheet. The pic below will provide you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the XZ-10 and NEX-5N.

Clearly, each of the cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The XZ-10 with its tinier sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field trickier and the Sony NEX-5N will resolve greater detail having an extra 4MP. Higher resolution will also let you crop pictures a good deal more aggressively. The fresher XZ-10 will have an edge with regard to sensor technology.