Canon SX230 HS vs Samsung NX500

Its time to take a closer look at the Canon SX230 HS and Samsung NX500, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by competitors Canon and Samsung. There is a considerable difference among the resolutions of the SX230 HS (12MP) and NX500 (28MP) and the SX230 HS (1/2.3") and NX500 (APS-C) use totally different sensor dimensions.

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The SX230 HS was manufactured 4 years before the NX500 and that is a fairly large difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Canon SX230 HS being a Compact camera and the Samsung NX500 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting through a step-by-step comparison, below is a brief highlight of how the SX230 HS scores vs the NX500 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Canon PowerShot SX230 HS & Samsung NX500. The entire galleries are provided at Canon SX230 HS Gallery & Samsung NX500 Gallery.

When you are planning to lug around your camera frequently, you will have to think about its weight and dimensions. The Canon SX230 HS has external dimensions of 106mm x 62mm x 33mm (4.2" x 2.4" x 1.3") accompanied by a weight of 223 grams (0.49 lbs) and the Samsung NX500 has dimensions of 120mm x 64mm x 43mm (4.7" x 2.5" x 1.7") along with a weight of 287 grams (0.63 lbs).

See the Canon SX230 HS and Samsung NX500 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you choose at that time. Underneath is the front view proportions comparison of the SX230 HS and the NX500.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the SX230 HS and NX500 is 91 and 87 respectively.

Generally, its hard to visualise the gap in sensor measurements just by checking out a spec sheet. The visual here should offer you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the SX230 HS and NX500.

As you can see, the two cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The SX230 HS because of its smaller sensor will make shooting bokeh tougher and the Samsung NX500 will produce greater detail due to its extra 16 Megapixels. Higher resolution will allow you to crop shots much more aggressively. The older SX230 HS will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.