Olympus SZ-11 vs Sony A77

In this write-up, we will be looking at the Olympus SZ-11 and Sony A77, one is a Small Sensor Superzoom and the latter is a Advanced DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a sizeable gap between the sensor resolutions of the SZ-11 (14MP) and A77 (24MP) and the SZ-11 (1/2.3") and A77 (APS-C) use totally different sensor sizes.

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The SZ-11 was released 3 months earlier than the A77 and they are of a similar generation. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus SZ-11 being a Compact camera and the Sony A77 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before delving in to a comprehensive comparison, below is a simple view of how the SZ-11 scores versus the A77 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus SZ-11 and Sony SLT-A77. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus SZ-11 Gallery and Sony A77 Gallery.

In case you're looking to carry around your camera regularly, you will need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus SZ-11 provides outer dimensions of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") accompanied by a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs) whilst the Sony A77 has measurements of 143mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.2") along with a weight of 732 grams (1.61 lbs).

Look at the Olympus SZ-11 and Sony A77 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you have chosen at that time. Below is the front view measurement comparison of the SZ-11 compared to the A77.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the SZ-11 and A77 is 89 and 59 respectively.

Sometimes, it's tough to visualise the difference between sensor sizes only by checking a spec sheet. The pic below will give you a stronger sense of the sensor sizes in the SZ-11 and A77.

As you can see, the 2 cameras enjoy different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The SZ-11 featuring a tinier sensor will make achieving shallow DOF more challenging and the Sony A77 will give you extra detail as a result of its extra 10MP. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop photographs far more aggressively.