Olympus E-330 vs Olympus SZ-12

Its time to take a closer look at the Olympus E-330 versus Olympus SZ-12, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both are created by Olympus. There is a noticeable difference among the sensor resolutions of the E-330 (7MP) and SZ-12 (14MP) and the E-330 (Four Thirds) and SZ-12 (1/2.3") come with different sensor measurements.

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The E-330 was announced 6 years earlier than the SZ-12 and that is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-330 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus SZ-12 being a Compact camera.

Before diving straight into a thorough comparison, below is a concise summation of how the E-330 scores versus the SZ-12 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-330 & Olympus SZ-12. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-330 Gallery & Olympus SZ-12 Gallery.

If you are aiming to lug around your camera regularly, you're going to have to think about its weight and size. The Olympus E-330 features outer dimensions of 140mm x 87mm x 72mm (5.5" x 3.4" x 2.8") and a weight of 616 grams (1.36 lbs) whilst the Olympus SZ-12 has specifications of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") accompanied by a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-330 versus Olympus SZ-12 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are employing at that moment. The following is the front view scale comparison of the E-330 against the SZ-12.

Looking at size and weight, the portability rating of the E-330 and SZ-12 is 65 and 89 respectively.

Generally, it's tough to visualize the contrast in sensor measurements simply by going through technical specs. The graphic below may offer you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the E-330 and SZ-12.

As you have seen, each of the cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-330 using its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field less difficult and the Olympus SZ-12 will show greater detail with its extra 7 Megapixels. Greater resolution will allow you to crop images somewhat more aggressively. The older E-330 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.