Nikon P90 vs Sony HX30V

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Nikon P90 and Sony HX30V, both Small Sensor Superzoom cameras by companies Nikon and Sony. There is a sizable difference among the resolutions of the P90 (12MP) and HX30V (18MP) but they come with the exact same sensor dimensions (1/2.3").

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The P90 was unveiled 4 years before the HX30V and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Nikon P90 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera and the Sony HX30V being a Compact camera.

Before getting through a more detailed comparison, below is a simple highlight of how the P90 grades versus the HX30V in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Nikon Coolpix P90 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX30V. The full galleries are available at Nikon P90 Gallery & Sony HX30V Gallery.

For anybody who is intending to carry your camera often, you have to factor its weight and size. The Nikon P90 offers outside dimensions of 114mm x 99mm x 83mm (4.5" x 3.9" x 3.3") with a weight of 400 grams (0.88 lbs) whilst the Sony HX30V has specifications of 107mm x 62mm x 35mm (4.2" x 2.4" x 1.4") with a weight of 254 grams (0.56 lbs).

Compare the Nikon P90 and Sony HX30V in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you select during that time. Here is the front view measurements comparison of the P90 versus the HX30V.

Using size and weight, the portability score of the P90 and HX30V is 70 and 90 respectively.

Usually, it can be hard to picture the contrast in sensor sizing simply by going through a spec sheet. The graphic here should provide you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the P90 and HX30V.

As you can see, both of those cameras posses the exact same sensor measurements but different resolution. You can expect to see the Sony HX30V to produce greater detail having an extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will allow you to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The older P90 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.