Olympus SH-50 vs Sony NEX-7

Let's take a more detailed look at the Olympus SH-50 and Sony NEX-7, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Advanced Mirrorless by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap between the resolutions of the SH-50 (16MP) and NEX-7 (24MP) and the SH-50 (1/2.3") and NEX-7 (APS-C) offer totally different sensor sizes.

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The SH-50 was unveiled 14 months after the NEX-7 which makes them a generation away from one another. Both of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera and the Sony NEX-7 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting straight to a step-by-step comparison, here is a brief summary of how the SH-50 scores vs the NEX-7 for portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus SH-50 & Sony Alpha NEX-7. The full galleries are available at Olympus SH-50 Gallery & Sony NEX-7 Gallery.

If you are planning to carry around your camera often, you need to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus SH-50 enjoys external measurements of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") and a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs) whilst the Sony NEX-7 has dimensions of 120mm x 67mm x 43mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 1.7") and a weight of 400 grams (0.88 lbs).

Examine the Olympus SH-50 and Sony NEX-7 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you select at the time. Following is a front view size comparison of the SH-50 and the NEX-7.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the SH-50 and NEX-7 is 88 and 84 respectively.

Sometimes, its hard to visualise the difference between sensor sizes only by reading through technical specs. The image here may provide you a more clear sense of the sensor measurements in the SH-50 and NEX-7.

As you have seen, both cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The SH-50 with its tinier sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field tougher and the Sony NEX-7 will give you more detail having an extra 8MP. Higher resolution will also let you crop photographs more aggressively. The younger SH-50 is going to have an advantage with regard to sensor tech.