Olympus SH-50 vs Olympus 1s

Let's look a little more closely at the Olympus SH-50 and Olympus 1s, both Small Sensor Superzoom digital cameras and they are both designed by Olympus. There exists a large gap between the resolutions of the SH-50 (16MP) and 1s (12MP) and the SH-50 (1/2.3") and 1s (1/1.7") come with different sensor sizes.

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The SH-50 was unveiled 3 years earlier than the 1s and that is quite a serious difference as far as technology is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera and the Olympus 1s being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before getting in to a in-depth comparison, below is a short synopsis of how the SH-50 matches up against the 1s in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus SH-50 & Olympus Stylus 1s. The full galleries are provided at Olympus SH-50 Gallery & Olympus 1s Gallery.

For anybody who is going to carry your camera frequently, you will have to factor its weight and size. The Olympus SH-50 enjoys external measurements of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs) whilst the Olympus 1s has specifications of 116mm x 87mm x 57mm (4.6" x 3.4" x 2.2") along with a weight of 402 grams (0.89 lbs).

Examine the Olympus SH-50 and Olympus 1s in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you are using during that time. Here is the front view size comparison of the SH-50 vs the 1s.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the SH-50 and 1s is 88 and 79 respectively.

More often than not, it is difficult to picture the contrast between sensor sizing only by checking a spec sheet. The graphic below may give you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the SH-50 and 1s.

Clearly, both the cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The SH-50 with its tinier sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF harder and the Olympus SH-50 will give greater detail having an extra 4MP. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The older SH-50 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.