Olympus SZ-11 vs Sony NEX-7

Its time to look much closer at the Olympus SZ-11 versus Sony NEX-7, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Advanced Mirrorless by brands Olympus and Sony. There exists a sizable gap among the sensor resolutions of the SZ-11 (14MP) and NEX-7 (24MP) and the SZ-11 (1/2.3") and NEX-7 (APS-C) use different sensor measurements.

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The SZ-11 was announced 4 months prior to the NEX-7 so they are both of a similar age. Each of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus SZ-11 being a Compact camera and the Sony NEX-7 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving straight into a full comparison, below is a brief summary of how the SZ-11 scores versus the NEX-7 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus SZ-11 & Sony Alpha NEX-7. The whole galleries are available at Olympus SZ-11 Gallery & Sony NEX-7 Gallery.

For anyone who is planning to lug around your camera regularly, you have to factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus SZ-11 features exterior measurements of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") accompanied by a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs) while the Sony NEX-7 has measurements of 120mm x 67mm x 43mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 400 grams (0.88 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus SZ-11 versus Sony NEX-7 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are utilizing during that time. Following is the front view dimension comparison of the SZ-11 versus the NEX-7.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the SZ-11 and NEX-7 is 89 and 84 respectively.

Normally, it is very hard to imagine the contrast in sensor measurements merely by looking through a spec sheet. The graphic here will help provide you a clearer sense of the sensor measurements in the SZ-11 and NEX-7.

As you can see, both cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The SZ-11 using its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallower DOF more difficult and the Sony NEX-7 will render greater detail with its extra 10 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop images a little more aggressively.