Olympus VH-515 vs Sony A550

Let's look a bit more closely at the Olympus VH-515 and Sony A550, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by rivals Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the VH-515 (12MP) and the A550 (14MP) is pretty similar but the VH-515 (1/2.3") and A550 (APS-C) come with different sensor size.

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The VH-515 was revealed 2 years later than the A550 and that is quite a serious difference as far as tech is concerned. Both of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus VH-515 being a Compact camera and the Sony A550 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving straight into a thorough comparison, below is a quick view of how the VH-515 grades vs the A550 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus VH-515 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A550. The full galleries are available at Olympus VH-515 Gallery & Sony A550 Gallery.

When you are looking to lug around your camera, you'll have to factor its weight and size. The Olympus VH-515 has got physical measurements of 102mm x 60mm x 21mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 0.8") along with a weight of 152 grams (0.34 lbs) and the Sony A550 has specifications of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") with a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus VH-515 and Sony A550 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you have chosen at that moment. Following is the front view proportions comparison of the VH-515 and the A550.

Using size and weight, the portability score of the VH-515 and A550 is 95 and 63 respectively.

In many cases, it is very tough to visualize the gap between sensor measurements only by reading specs. The graphic underneath should give you a stronger sense of the sensor sizing in the VH-515 and A550.

As you can plainly see, both of the cameras have got different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The VH-515 with its tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallower DOF trickier and the Sony A550 will offer more detail because of its extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop photographs much more aggressively. The younger VH-515 should have a benefit in sensor innovation.