Olympus VH-515 vs Sony A580

Following is a comprehensive review of the Olympus VH-515 and Sony A580, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap among the resolutions of the VH-515 (12MP) and A580 (16MP) and the VH-515 (1/2.3") and A580 (APS-C) offer different sensor measurements.

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The VH-515 was unveiled 16 months after the A580 making them a generation away from one another. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus VH-515 being a Compact camera and the Sony A580 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before we go straight to a step-by-step comparison, here is a short view of how the VH-515 scores vs the A580 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus VH-515 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A580. The full galleries are provided at Olympus VH-515 Gallery & Sony A580 Gallery.

If you're planning to carry around your camera often, you will need to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus VH-515 features physical measurements of 102mm x 60mm x 21mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 0.8") with a weight of 152 grams (0.34 lbs) whilst the Sony A580 has measurements of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") with a weight of 599 grams (1.32 lbs).

Look at the Olympus VH-515 and Sony A580 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are employing at that time. Following is a front view physical size comparison of the VH-515 versus the A580.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability score of the VH-515 and A580 is 95 and 64 respectively.

More often than not, it is very difficult to picture the difference in sensor sizes purely by checking out technical specs. The image here will give you a better sense of the sensor sizing in the VH-515 and A580.

As you have seen, the two cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The VH-515 having a smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field tougher and the Sony A580 will produce extra detail having an extra 4MP. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop photos more aggressively. The younger VH-515 provides a benefit in sensor technology.