Olympus SH-50 vs Sony HX1

Let's take a deeper look at the Olympus SH-50 and Sony HX1, both Small Sensor Superzoom cameras by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap among the sensor resolutions of the SH-50 (16MP) and HX1 (9MP) and the SH-50 (1/2.3") and HX1 (1/2.4") posses different sensor measurements.

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The SH-50 was announced 3 years later than the HX1 and that is a fairly serious difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera and the Sony HX1 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before we go into a more detailed comparison, here is a concise view of how the SH-50 scores vs the HX1 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus SH-50 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1. The whole galleries are available at Olympus SH-50 Gallery & Sony HX1 Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to lug around your camera often, you have to factor its weight and dimensions. The Olympus SH-50 offers outside measurements of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") and a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs) while the Sony HX1 has dimensions of 115mm x 83mm x 92mm (4.5" x 3.3" x 3.6") with a weight of 544 grams (1.20 lbs).

Check out the Olympus SH-50 and Sony HX1 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you use during that time. Following is a front view measurement comparison of the SH-50 against the HX1.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the SH-50 and HX1 is 88 and 67 respectively.

Normally, it's hard to imagine the gap in sensor measurements simply by checking out specs. The visual here might provide you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the SH-50 and HX1.

All in all, both the cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The SH-50 with its larger sensor is going to make achieving shallower depth of field easier and the Olympus SH-50 will provide more detail with its extra 7MP. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop pics a good deal more aggressively. The newer SH-50 provides an edge in sensor innovation.