Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony NEX-5N

Let's look a little more closely at the Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Sony NEX-5N, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a huge gap between the sensor resolutions of the XZ-2 iHS (12MP) and NEX-5N (16MP) and the XZ-2 iHS (1/1.7") and NEX-5N (APS-C) boast different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The XZ-2 iHS was brought out 15 months after the NEX-5N making them a generation away from one another. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus XZ-2 iHS being a Compact camera and the Sony NEX-5N being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving into a detailed comparison, here is a brief introduction of how the XZ-2 iHS grades versus the NEX-5N in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Sony Alpha NEX-5N. The entire galleries are available at Olympus XZ-2 iHS Gallery and Sony NEX-5N Gallery.

If you are looking to travel with your camera often, you are going to need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus XZ-2 iHS provides external dimensions of 113mm x 65mm x 48mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.9") along with a weight of 346 grams (0.76 lbs) whilst the Sony NEX-5N has measurements of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") accompanied by a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Sony NEX-5N in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you are working with at that time. Underneath is a front view dimensions comparison of the XZ-2 iHS compared to the NEX-5N.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the XZ-2 iHS and NEX-5N is 85 and 89 respectively.

Quite often, it can be difficult to visualize the gap between sensor dimensions simply by reading through specifications. The picture here should give you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the XZ-2 iHS and NEX-5N.

To sum up, both cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The XZ-2 iHS due to its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field more difficult and the Sony NEX-5N will resolve more detail having its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also help you crop photos more aggressively. The more modern XZ-2 iHS provides an advantage in sensor tech.