Olympus PEN-F vs Olympus SZ-12
84 Imaging
58 Features
79 Overall
66
89 Imaging
37 Features
36 Overall
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Olympus PEN-F vs Olympus SZ-12 Key Specs
(Full Review)
- 20MP - Four Thirds Sensor
- 3" Fully Articulated Screen
- ISO 200 - 25600
- Sensor based 5-axis Image Stabilization
- 1/8000s Max Shutter
- 1920 x 1080 video
- Micro Four Thirds Mount
- 427g - 125 x 72 x 37mm
- Revealed January 2016
(Full Review)
- 14MP - 1/2.3" Sensor
- 3" Fixed Display
- ISO 80 - 1600
- Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
- 1280 x 720 video
- 25-600mm (F3.0-6.9) lens
- 226g - 106 x 69 x 40mm
- Introduced January 2012
Snapchat Adds Watermarks to AI-Created Images Olympus PEN-F vs Olympus SZ-12 Overview
On this page, we are looking at the Olympus PEN-F and Olympus SZ-12, former is a Advanced Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both of them are manufactured by Olympus. There exists a sizable gap among the sensor resolutions of the PEN-F (20MP) and SZ-12 (14MP) and the PEN-F (Four Thirds) and SZ-12 (1/2.3") posses totally different sensor dimensions.
Sora from OpenAI releases its first ever music videoThe PEN-F was brought out 4 years after the SZ-12 which is a fairly significant difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus PEN-F being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Olympus SZ-12 being a Compact camera.
Before going right into a in depth comparison, here is a quick summary of how the PEN-F matches up versus the SZ-12 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.
Photography Glossary Olympus PEN-F vs Olympus SZ-12 Gallery
The following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN-F & Olympus SZ-12. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus PEN-F Gallery & Olympus SZ-12 Gallery.
Reasons to pick Olympus PEN-F over the Olympus SZ-12
| PEN-F | SZ-12 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduced | January 2016 | January 2012 | Newer by 50 months | |
| Focus manually | Dial accurate focusing | |||
| Display type | Fully Articulated | Fixed | Fully Articulating display | |
| Display resolution | 1037k | 460k | Sharper display (+577k dot) | |
| Selfie screen | Take selfies | |||
| Touch friendly display | Easily navigate |
Reasons to pick Olympus SZ-12 over the Olympus PEN-F
| SZ-12 | PEN-F |
|---|
Common features in the Olympus PEN-F and Olympus SZ-12
| PEN-F | SZ-12 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display dimensions | 3" | 3" | Equal display sizing |
Olympus PEN-F vs Olympus SZ-12 Physical Comparison
For those who are intending to travel with your camera regularly, you're going to have to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus PEN-F comes with exterior measurements of 125mm x 72mm x 37mm (4.9" x 2.8" x 1.5") along with a weight of 427 grams (0.94 lbs) while the Olympus SZ-12 has sizing of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") accompanied by a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs).
Analyze the Olympus PEN-F and Olympus SZ-12 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.
Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you are utilising at that time. Underneath is a front view overall size comparison of the PEN-F versus the SZ-12.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the PEN-F and SZ-12 is 84 and 89 respectively.
Olympus PEN-F vs Olympus SZ-12 Sensor Comparison
Sometimes, its difficult to visualise the contrast in sensor dimensions only by looking through a spec sheet. The pic below may offer you a more clear sense of the sensor sizing in the PEN-F and SZ-12.
As you can see, both the cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The PEN-F because of its larger sensor will make achieving shallow DOF less difficult and the Olympus PEN-F will render more detail having its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop images more aggressively. The more recent PEN-F will have an edge when it comes to sensor innovation.
Olympus PEN-F vs Olympus SZ-12 Screen and ViewFinder
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Olympus PEN-F vs Olympus SZ-12 Specifications
| Olympus PEN-F | Olympus SZ-12 | |
|---|---|---|
| General Information | ||
| Brand Name | Olympus | Olympus |
| Model type | Olympus PEN-F | Olympus SZ-12 |
| Category | Advanced Mirrorless | Small Sensor Superzoom |
| Revealed | 2016-01-27 | 2012-01-10 |
| Body design | Rangefinder-style mirrorless | Compact |
| Sensor Information | ||
| Chip | TruePic VII | - |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CCD |
| Sensor size | Four Thirds | 1/2.3" |
| Sensor dimensions | 17.3 x 13mm | 6.17 x 4.55mm |
| Sensor surface area | 224.9mm² | 28.1mm² |
| Sensor resolution | 20 megapixels | 14 megapixels |
| Anti alias filter | ||
| Aspect ratio | 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 | - |
| Highest resolution | 5184 x 3888 | 4288 x 3216 |
| Highest native ISO | 25600 | 1600 |
| Minimum native ISO | 200 | 80 |
| RAW files | ||
| Minimum boosted ISO | 80 | - |
| Autofocusing | ||
| Focus manually | ||
| Touch to focus | ||
| Continuous autofocus | ||
| Single autofocus | ||
| Autofocus tracking | ||
| Autofocus selectice | ||
| Center weighted autofocus | ||
| Autofocus multi area | ||
| Live view autofocus | ||
| Face detection autofocus | ||
| Contract detection autofocus | ||
| Phase detection autofocus | ||
| Total focus points | 81 | - |
| Cross type focus points | - | - |
| Lens | ||
| Lens mount type | Micro Four Thirds | fixed lens |
| Lens zoom range | - | 25-600mm (24.0x) |
| Largest aperture | - | f/3.0-6.9 |
| Amount of lenses | 107 | - |
| Crop factor | 2.1 | 5.8 |
| Screen | ||
| Screen type | Fully Articulated | Fixed Type |
| Screen size | 3 inch | 3 inch |
| Resolution of screen | 1,037 thousand dot | 460 thousand dot |
| Selfie friendly | ||
| Liveview | ||
| Touch friendly | ||
| Screen technology | - | TFT Color LCD |
| Viewfinder Information | ||
| Viewfinder type | Electronic | None |
| Viewfinder resolution | 2,360 thousand dot | - |
| Viewfinder coverage | 100% | - |
| Viewfinder magnification | 0.62x | - |
| Features | ||
| Lowest shutter speed | 60 seconds | 4 seconds |
| Highest shutter speed | 1/8000 seconds | 1/1700 seconds |
| Highest silent shutter speed | 1/16000 seconds | - |
| Continuous shooting speed | 10.0 frames/s | 1.0 frames/s |
| Shutter priority | ||
| Aperture priority | ||
| Manual exposure | ||
| Exposure compensation | Yes | - |
| Change white balance | ||
| Image stabilization | ||
| Inbuilt flash | ||
| Flash distance | no built-in flash | - |
| Flash settings | Flash Auto, Redeye, Fill-in, Flash Off, Red-eye Slow sync (1st curtain), Slow sync (1st curtain), Slow sync (2nd curtain) | Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Fill-in |
| External flash | ||
| AEB | ||
| White balance bracketing | ||
| Exposure | ||
| Multisegment metering | ||
| Average metering | ||
| Spot metering | ||
| Partial metering | ||
| AF area metering | ||
| Center weighted metering | ||
| Video features | ||
| Video resolutions | 1920 x 1080 (60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, 24p), 1280 x 720 (60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, 24p) | 1280 x 720 (30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps), 320 x 180 (30fps) |
| Highest video resolution | 1920x1080 | 1280x720 |
| Video data format | MPEG-4, H.264, Motion JPEG | MPEG-4, H.264 |
| Mic input | ||
| Headphone input | ||
| Connectivity | ||
| Wireless | Built-In | None |
| Bluetooth | ||
| NFC | ||
| HDMI | ||
| USB | USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) | USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) |
| GPS | None | None |
| Physical | ||
| Environment seal | ||
| Water proofing | ||
| Dust proofing | ||
| Shock proofing | ||
| Crush proofing | ||
| Freeze proofing | ||
| Weight | 427 gr (0.94 lb) | 226 gr (0.50 lb) |
| Physical dimensions | 125 x 72 x 37mm (4.9" x 2.8" x 1.5") | 106 x 69 x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") |
| DXO scores | ||
| DXO All around rating | 74 | not tested |
| DXO Color Depth rating | 23.1 | not tested |
| DXO Dynamic range rating | 12.4 | not tested |
| DXO Low light rating | 894 | not tested |
| Other | ||
| Battery life | 330 images | 220 images |
| Battery format | Battery Pack | Battery Pack |
| Battery ID | BLN-1 | LI-50B |
| Self timer | Yes (2 or 12 seconds, custom) | Yes (2 or 12 sec, pet auto shutter) |
| Time lapse shooting | ||
| Type of storage | SD/SDHC/SDXC | SD/SDHC/SDXC |
| Storage slots | One | One |
| Pricing at launch | $1,000 | $350 |