Olympus SH-50 vs Samsung CL5

On this page, we are looking at the Olympus SH-50 and Samsung CL5, one being a Small Sensor Superzoom and the other is a Ultracompact by manufacturers Olympus and Samsung. There exists a huge gap between the sensor resolutions of the SH-50 (16MP) and CL5 (9MP) and the SH-50 (1/2.3") and CL5 (1/2.5") posses different sensor size.

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The SH-50 was unveiled 3 years later than the CL5 and that is quite a significant gap as far as technology is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera and the Samsung CL5 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before getting right into a more detailed comparison, here is a quick highlight of how the SH-50 matches up versus the CL5 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus SH-50 and Samsung CL5. The full galleries are provided at Olympus SH-50 Gallery and Samsung CL5 Gallery.

If you are looking to lug around your camera regularly, you will want to consider its weight and size. The Olympus SH-50 comes with external measurements of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") with a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs) and the Samsung CL5 has specifications of 93mm x 60mm x 19mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 0.7") accompanied by a weight of 141 grams (0.31 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus SH-50 and Samsung CL5 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you select at the time. Below is a front view scale comparison of the SH-50 versus the CL5.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the SH-50 and CL5 is 88 and 95 respectively.

Sometimes, its difficult to picture the contrast between sensor measurements only by going over technical specs. The visual here might offer you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the SH-50 and CL5.

As you can tell, the two cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The SH-50 using its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF less difficult and the Olympus SH-50 will offer you extra detail having an extra 7MP. Greater resolution will help you crop photos a bit more aggressively. The more recent SH-50 should have an advantage in sensor technology.