Olympus VH-515 vs Sony A99 II

Here is a complete assessment of the Olympus VH-515 vs Sony A99 II, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap between the sensor resolutions of the VH-515 (12MP) and A99 II (42MP) and the VH-515 (1/2.3") and A99 II (Full frame) come with different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The VH-515 was released 5 years earlier than the A99 II and that is quite a serious difference as far as technology is concerned. Both cameras offer different body type with the Olympus VH-515 being a Compact camera and the Sony A99 II being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before diving straight into a more detailed comparison, below is a simple highlight of how the VH-515 scores versus the A99 II in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus VH-515 & Sony Alpha A99 II. The complete galleries are available at Olympus VH-515 Gallery & Sony A99 II Gallery.

If you're intending to carry your camera often, you will have to consider its weight and dimensions. The Olympus VH-515 provides outside dimensions of 102mm x 60mm x 21mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 0.8") along with a weight of 152 grams (0.34 lbs) whilst the Sony A99 II has dimensions of 143mm x 104mm x 76mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.0") having a weight of 849 grams (1.87 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus VH-515 vs Sony A99 II in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you have chosen at that time. Here is the front view proportions comparison of the VH-515 and the A99 II.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the VH-515 and A99 II is 95 and 57 respectively.

Sometimes, its difficult to picture the gap between sensor sizing just by going over a spec sheet. The visual below should offer you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the VH-515 and A99 II.

Clearly, both of these cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The VH-515 because of its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field more challenging and the Sony A99 II will offer extra detail as a result of its extra 30 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also allow you to crop photographs a little more aggressively. The older VH-515 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.