Olympus VR-320 vs Sony A6500

The following is a extensive review of the Olympus VR-320 and Sony A6500, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Advanced Mirrorless by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a substantial difference among the resolutions of the VR-320 (14MP) and A6500 (24MP) and the VR-320 (1/2.3") and A6500 (APS-C) offer different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The VR-320 was announced 6 years before the A6500 which is a fairly big difference as far as camera tech is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus VR-320 being a Compact camera and the Sony A6500 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before delving straight to a step-by-step comparison, here is a brief summation of how the VR-320 scores against the A6500 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus VR-320 & Sony Alpha a6500. The whole galleries are available at Olympus VR-320 Gallery & Sony A6500 Gallery.

If you are aiming to travel with your camera, you will have to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus VR-320 features outer dimensions of 101mm x 58mm x 29mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.1") with a weight of 158 grams (0.35 lbs) and the Sony A6500 has dimensions of 120mm x 67mm x 53mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 2.1") with a weight of 453 grams (1.00 lbs).

See the Olympus VR-320 and Sony A6500 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are working with at the time. Here is a front view measurement comparison of the VR-320 and the A6500.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability grade of the VR-320 and A6500 is 94 and 81 respectively.

Often, it can be difficult to imagine the contrast in sensor dimensions just by viewing a spec sheet. The picture here might provide you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the VR-320 and A6500.

As you can see, each of these cameras have different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The VR-320 having a smaller sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF trickier and the Sony A6500 will provide you with greater detail with its extra 10 Megapixels. Greater resolution will allow you to crop images a bit more aggressively. The more aged VR-320 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.