Olympus VR-330 vs Sony NEX-5T

Its time to look a little more closely at the Olympus VR-330 vs Sony NEX-5T, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by brands Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the VR-330 (14MP) and the NEX-5T (16MP) is very similar but the VR-330 (1/2.3") and NEX-5T (APS-C) come with different sensor sizing.

Pentax 17 Pre-Orders Outperform Expectations by a Landslide

The VR-330 was unveiled 3 years before the NEX-5T and that is quite a sizable difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus VR-330 being a Compact camera and the Sony NEX-5T being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before we go through a thorough comparison, below is a short overview of how the VR-330 matches up against the NEX-5T for portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus VR-330 & Sony Alpha NEX-5T. The full galleries are available at Olympus VR-330 Gallery & Sony NEX-5T Gallery.

If you're aiming to lug around your camera, you will have to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus VR-330 enjoys external measurements of 101mm x 58mm x 29mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.1") having a weight of 158 grams (0.35 lbs) while the Sony NEX-5T has measurements of 111mm x 59mm x 39mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") having a weight of 276 grams (0.61 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus VR-330 vs Sony NEX-5T in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you have chosen at the time. Below is the front view scale comparison of the VR-330 and the NEX-5T.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the VR-330 and NEX-5T is 94 and 89 respectively.

Normally, it's tough to picture the gap between sensor measurements purely by reviewing specifications. The photograph underneath will provide you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the VR-330 and NEX-5T.

To sum up, both of the cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The VR-330 with its tinier sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field harder and the Sony NEX-5T will deliver more detail having an extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop images somewhat more aggressively. The older VR-330 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.