Olympus E-300 vs Sony HX300

In this write-up, we will be looking at the Olympus E-300 and Sony HX300, one being a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Sony. There is a crucial difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-300 (8MP) and HX300 (20MP) and the E-300 (Four Thirds) and HX300 (1/2.3") possess totally different sensor sizes.

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The E-300 was unveiled 9 years prior to the HX300 and that is quite a serious gap as far as tech is concerned. The two cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-300 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony HX300 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before delving through a in-depth comparison, below is a brief synopsis of how the E-300 matches up vs the HX300 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-300 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-300 Gallery and Sony HX300 Gallery.

When you are looking to lug around your camera regularly, you will need to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus E-300 features outside dimensions of 147mm x 85mm x 64mm (5.8" x 3.3" x 2.5") and a weight of 624 grams (1.38 lbs) while the Sony HX300 has sizing of 130mm x 103mm x 93mm (5.1" x 4.1" x 3.7") with a weight of 623 grams (1.37 lbs).

See the Olympus E-300 and Sony HX300 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you have chosen during that time. Here is the front view size comparison of the E-300 versus the HX300.

Looking at size and weight, the portability grade of the E-300 and HX300 is 67 and 63 respectively.

Generally, it is very hard to visualise the gap between sensor measurements just by reading through specifications. The graphic underneath will help provide you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-300 and HX300.

To sum up, each of the cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-300 with its bigger sensor will make getting shallow DOF easier and the Sony HX300 will give you greater detail having an extra 12 Megapixels. Higher resolution will make it easier to crop pictures a little more aggressively. The older E-300 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.