Pentax E90 vs Sony NEX-5

Lets take a more detailed look at the Pentax E90 vs Sony NEX-5, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by manufacturers Pentax and Sony. There exists a huge gap among the sensor resolutions of the E90 (10MP) and NEX-5 (14MP) and the E90 (1/2.3") and NEX-5 (APS-C) posses totally different sensor size.

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The E90 was launched 4 months earlier than the NEX-5 which means that they are both of a similar generation. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Pentax E90 being a Compact camera and the Sony NEX-5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before delving straight to a comprehensive comparison, here is a quick view of how the E90 scores against the NEX-5 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Pentax Optio E90 and Sony Alpha NEX-5. The complete galleries are available at Pentax E90 Gallery and Sony NEX-5 Gallery.

In case you're looking to carry your camera frequently, you will want to consider its weight and dimensions. The Pentax E90 features outside dimensions of 102mm x 59mm x 25mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.0") having a weight of 145 grams (0.32 lbs) whilst the Sony NEX-5 has dimensions of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") having a weight of 287 grams (0.63 lbs).

See the Pentax E90 vs Sony NEX-5 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you have attached at that time. Here is a front view measurement comparison of the E90 against the NEX-5.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E90 and NEX-5 is 94 and 89 respectively.

More often than not, its hard to visualise the difference in sensor sizing just by researching a spec sheet. The graphic below will help offer you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the E90 and NEX-5.

As you can see, both of the cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E90 featuring a smaller sensor will make getting bokeh trickier and the Sony NEX-5 will render greater detail utilizing its extra 4MP. Higher resolution will also let you crop pictures a good deal more aggressively.