Olympus VH-410 vs Sony A500

Let's look a bit more closely at the Olympus VH-410 versus Sony A500, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a huge gap between the resolutions of the VH-410 (16MP) and A500 (12MP) and the VH-410 (1/2.3") and A500 (APS-C) offer totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The VH-410 was unveiled 3 years after the A500 which is quite a significant gap as far as technology is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus VH-410 being a Compact camera and the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving straight to a full comparison, here is a concise summation of how the VH-410 grades against the A500 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus VH-410 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A500. The full galleries are provided at Olympus VH-410 Gallery and Sony A500 Gallery.

When you are going to carry around your camera regularly, you'll need to factor in its weight and measurements. The Olympus VH-410 offers physical dimensions of 102mm x 60mm x 21mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 0.8") accompanied by a weight of 152 grams (0.34 lbs) while the Sony A500 has proportions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") accompanied by a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs).

Examine the Olympus VH-410 versus Sony A500 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you are using at that time. Following is a front view physical size comparison of the VH-410 vs the A500.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the VH-410 and A500 is 95 and 63 respectively.

Typically, its tough to see the contrast between sensor sizes purely by reading technical specs. The picture underneath might offer you a greater sense of the sensor dimensions in the VH-410 and A500.

As you have seen, each of these cameras have different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The VH-410 using its tinier sensor will make achieving bokeh more challenging and the Olympus VH-410 will offer you extra detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop shots a bit more aggressively. The younger VH-410 is going to have an edge in sensor technology.