Olympus VG-120 vs Sony NEX-5N

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Olympus VG-120 vs Sony NEX-5N, former being a Ultracompact while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the VG-120 (14MP) and the NEX-5N (16MP) is very close but the VG-120 (1/2.3") and NEX-5N (APS-C) use totally different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The VG-120 was launched 9 months earlier than the NEX-5N and they are both of a similar age. Both of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus VG-120 being a Ultracompact camera and the Sony NEX-5N being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going through a in depth comparison, below is a short view of how the VG-120 scores versus the NEX-5N for portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus VG-120 & Sony Alpha NEX-5N. The complete galleries are available at Olympus VG-120 Gallery & Sony NEX-5N Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to lug around your camera regularly, you're going to have to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus VG-120 offers outer dimensions of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") with a weight of 120 grams (0.26 lbs) whilst the Sony NEX-5N has dimensions of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") along with a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Check out the Olympus VG-120 vs Sony NEX-5N in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you use at the time. The following is the front view scale comparison of the VG-120 vs the NEX-5N.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability score of the VG-120 and NEX-5N is 96 and 89 respectively.

Generally, it is difficult to visualise the contrast in sensor measurements just by looking through technical specs. The graphic here should offer you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the VG-120 and NEX-5N.

As you have seen, both cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The VG-120 because of its smaller sensor will make getting shallow depth of field more challenging and the Sony NEX-5N will provide you with greater detail utilizing its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will allow you to crop pics somewhat more aggressively. The older VG-120 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.