Olympus E-30 vs Olympus SP-820UZ

Lets look more in depth at the Olympus E-30 and Olympus SP-820UZ, former being a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both of them are sold by Olympus. The image resolution of the E-30 (12MP) and the SP-820UZ (14MP) is pretty comparable but the E-30 (Four Thirds) and SP-820UZ (1/2.3") provide different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-30 was introduced 4 years prior to the SP-820UZ and that is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-30 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus SP-820UZ being a Compact camera.

Before diving right into a complete comparison, here is a simple summary of how the E-30 matches up vs the SP-820UZ in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-30 & Olympus Stylus SP-820UZ. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-30 Gallery & Olympus SP-820UZ Gallery.

If you're intending to carry your camera frequently, you'll need to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-30 provides physical dimensions of 142mm x 108mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.3" x 3.0") along with a weight of 695 grams (1.53 lbs) and the Olympus SP-820UZ has sizing of 117mm x 78mm x 93mm (4.6" x 3.1" x 3.7") accompanied by a weight of 485 grams (1.07 lbs).

See the Olympus E-30 and Olympus SP-820UZ in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you use during that time. Following is a front view physical size comparison of the E-30 against the SP-820UZ.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability grade of the E-30 and SP-820UZ is 60 and 69 respectively.

Often, it is very hard to visualize the difference in sensor sizing just by seeing a spec sheet. The graphic below will help give you a clearer sense of the sensor sizes in the E-30 and SP-820UZ.

Clearly, each of these cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E-30 using its bigger sensor is going to make shooting shallower depth of field simpler and the Olympus SP-820UZ will provide greater detail using its extra 2MP. Higher resolution will enable you to crop photographs a good deal more aggressively. The older E-30 will be behind in sensor technology.