Nikon D80 vs Olympus SZ-30MR

Let's look more closely at the Nikon D80 versus Olympus SZ-30MR, one is a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Nikon and Olympus. There exists a huge gap among the resolutions of the D80 (10MP) and SZ-30MR (16MP) and the D80 (APS-C) and SZ-30MR (1/2.3") provide different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The D80 was brought out 5 years earlier than the SZ-30MR which is a fairly significant gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Nikon D80 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus SZ-30MR being a Compact camera.

Before getting into a complete comparison, here is a simple highlight of how the D80 grades versus the SZ-30MR in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Nikon D80 and Olympus SZ-30MR. The entire galleries are viewable at Nikon D80 Gallery and Olympus SZ-30MR Gallery.

If you are planning to travel with your camera often, you are going to need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Nikon D80 has got exterior dimensions of 132mm x 103mm x 77mm (5.2" x 4.1" x 3.0") accompanied by a weight of 668 grams (1.47 lbs) whilst the Olympus SZ-30MR has measurements of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") and a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs).

See the Nikon D80 versus Olympus SZ-30MR in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you have attached during that time. Here is a front view dimensions comparison of the D80 versus the SZ-30MR.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the D80 and SZ-30MR is 62 and 89 respectively.

More often than not, it's difficult to visualize the contrast in sensor dimensions just by viewing specs. The pic below may offer you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the D80 and SZ-30MR.

All in all, both of those cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The D80 due to its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field less difficult and the Olympus SZ-30MR will result in more detail having its extra 6MP. Greater resolution will allow you to crop pics more aggressively. The more aged D80 will be behind in sensor tech.