Olympus E-30 vs Sony W380

Below is a in-depth overview of the Olympus E-30 and Sony W380, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Ultracompact by rivals Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the E-30 (12MP) and the W380 (14MP) is fairly well matched but the E-30 (Four Thirds) and W380 (1/2.3") come with totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The E-30 was brought out 9 months prior to the W380 so they are both of a similar age. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-30 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony W380 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before diving through a in-depth comparison, below is a brief overview of how the E-30 matches up vs the W380 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-30 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W380. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-30 Gallery & Sony W380 Gallery.

When you are looking to lug around your camera frequently, you'll have to factor in its weight and size. The Olympus E-30 features outer measurements of 142mm x 108mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.3" x 3.0") and a weight of 695 grams (1.53 lbs) while the Sony W380 has specifications of 91mm x 52mm x 20mm (3.6" x 2.0" x 0.8") accompanied by a weight of 117 grams (0.26 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-30 and Sony W380 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are working with at the time. Underneath is the front view dimension comparison of the E-30 versus the W380.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-30 and W380 is 60 and 96 respectively.

Normally, its tough to visualise the gap between sensor measurements merely by looking at specifications. The graphic below might give you a clearer sense of the sensor sizing in the E-30 and W380.

Plainly, both of the cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-30 due to its larger sensor will make getting shallow DOF less difficult and the Sony W380 will resolve extra detail having its extra 2MP. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop photos a little more aggressively. The older E-30 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.