Olympus SZ-12 vs Sony A380

Its time to look a little more closely at the Olympus SZ-12 vs Sony A380, one is a Small Sensor Superzoom and the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the SZ-12 (14MP) and the A380 (14MP) is fairly well matched but the SZ-12 (1/2.3") and A380 (APS-C) have totally different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The SZ-12 was announced 2 years after the A380 which is quite a significant gap as far as technology is concerned. Each of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus SZ-12 being a Compact camera and the Sony A380 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving straight to a more detailed comparison, here is a short summation of how the SZ-12 scores vs the A380 for portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus SZ-12 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A380. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus SZ-12 Gallery and Sony A380 Gallery.

For anyone who is aiming to carry around your camera, you will need to factor in its weight and proportions. The Olympus SZ-12 features outside dimensions of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") having a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs) and the Sony A380 has measurements of 128mm x 97mm x 71mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 2.8") having a weight of 519 grams (1.14 lbs).

Check the Olympus SZ-12 vs Sony A380 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you are working with at the time. Here is a front view measurement comparison of the SZ-12 versus the A380.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the SZ-12 and A380 is 89 and 68 respectively.

Quite often, its hard to envision the contrast between sensor sizes simply by checking a spec sheet. The pic below may provide you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the SZ-12 and A380.

As you can see, each of the cameras feature the identical megapixels but not the same sensor sizes. The SZ-12 uses the tinier sensor which will make getting shallower DOF harder. The fresher SZ-12 will have an edge when it comes to sensor technology.