Olympus XZ-10 vs Sony a5000

On this page, we are reviewing the Olympus XZ-10 vs Sony a5000, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a huge gap among the sensor resolutions of the XZ-10 (12MP) and a5000 (20MP) and the XZ-10 (1/2.3") and a5000 (APS-C) have different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The XZ-10 was brought out 11 months earlier than the a5000 which means that they are of a similar generation. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus XZ-10 being a Compact camera and the Sony a5000 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving into a thorough comparison, here is a simple summary of how the XZ-10 scores vs the a5000 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus Stylus XZ-10 and Sony Alpha a5000. The entire galleries are available at Olympus XZ-10 Gallery and Sony a5000 Gallery.

If you are intending to carry around your camera often, you will need to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus XZ-10 enjoys external dimensions of 102mm x 61mm x 34mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 1.3") with a weight of 221 grams (0.49 lbs) whilst the Sony a5000 has sizing of 110mm x 63mm x 36mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.4") having a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus XZ-10 vs Sony a5000 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you are using at the time. Here is a front view scale comparison of the XZ-10 vs the a5000.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the XZ-10 and a5000 is 91 and 89 respectively.

More often than not, it is very hard to picture the difference in sensor sizes simply by checking out specifications. The pic below will give you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the XZ-10 and a5000.

To sum up, both the cameras have different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The XZ-10 featuring a smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF tougher and the Sony a5000 will provide extra detail having its extra 8MP. Greater resolution will enable you to crop images a bit more aggressively. The more aged XZ-10 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.