Olympus VG-160 vs Sony A6100

Below is a thorough comparison of the Olympus VG-160 vs Sony A6100, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Advanced Mirrorless by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap among the resolutions of the VG-160 (14MP) and A6100 (24MP) and the VG-160 (1/2.3") and A6100 (APS-C) have totally different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The VG-160 was announced 8 years prior to the A6100 and that is a fairly large difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus VG-160 being a Compact camera and the Sony A6100 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving right into a full comparison, here is a short summation of how the VG-160 scores versus the A6100 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus VG-160 & Sony Alpha a6100. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus VG-160 Gallery & Sony A6100 Gallery.

If you are planning to lug around your camera regularly, you're going to have to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus VG-160 comes with physical dimensions of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") accompanied by a weight of 125 grams (0.28 lbs) while the Sony A6100 has sizing of 120mm x 67mm x 59mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 2.3") with a weight of 396 grams (0.87 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus VG-160 vs Sony A6100 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you choose at that time. Below is a front view measurements comparison of the VG-160 vs the A6100.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the VG-160 and A6100 is 96 and 81 respectively.

More often than not, it can be difficult to envision the gap in sensor measurements merely by looking through a spec sheet. The graphic below might offer you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the VG-160 and A6100.

Clearly, both cameras have different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The VG-160 using its smaller sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field tougher and the Sony A6100 will render more detail with its extra 10MP. Greater resolution will also let you crop photos a bit more aggressively. The older VG-160 will be behind when it comes to sensor technology.