Olympus XZ-10 vs Sony NEX-5R

Following is a detailed comparison of the Olympus XZ-10 and Sony NEX-5R, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by rivals Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap among the sensor resolutions of the XZ-10 (12MP) and NEX-5R (16MP) and the XZ-10 (1/2.3") and NEX-5R (APS-C) provide different sensor sizes.

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The XZ-10 was revealed 6 months after the NEX-5R which means that they are of a similar age. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus XZ-10 being a Compact camera and the Sony NEX-5R being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before we go right into a full comparison, here is a brief summary of how the XZ-10 grades against the NEX-5R when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

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

For those who are planning to carry around your camera often, you'll have to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus XZ-10 offers physical dimensions of 102mm x 61mm x 34mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 1.3") along with a weight of 221 grams (0.49 lbs) whilst the Sony NEX-5R has measurements of 111mm x 59mm x 39mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") and a weight of 276 grams (0.61 lbs).

Look at the Olympus XZ-10 and Sony NEX-5R in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you are employing at that moment. Here is a front view measurement comparison of the XZ-10 vs the NEX-5R.

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

Sometimes, its difficult to imagine the difference in sensor sizes just by going through a spec sheet. The image below might provide you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the XZ-10 and NEX-5R.

As you can see, the 2 cameras have different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The XZ-10 having a smaller sensor is going to make getting shallower DOF more challenging and the Sony NEX-5R will show greater detail because of its extra 4MP. Higher resolution will make it easier to crop photographs a bit more aggressively.