Olympus SZ-12 vs Sony A390

Its time to look more closely at the Olympus SZ-12 versus Sony A390, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the SZ-12 (14MP) and the A390 (14MP) is fairly close but the SZ-12 (1/2.3") and A390 (APS-C) possess different sensor dimensions.

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The SZ-12 was unveiled 18 months after the A390 making the cameras a generation away from one another. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus SZ-12 being a Compact camera and the Sony A390 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving through a in depth comparison, below is a concise summary of how the SZ-12 scores vs the A390 for portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus SZ-12 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A390. The full galleries are available at Olympus SZ-12 Gallery & Sony A390 Gallery.

When you are looking to carry around your camera regularly, you have to factor its weight and measurements. The Olympus SZ-12 has got external 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) and the Sony A390 has proportions of 128mm x 97mm x 86mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 3.4") accompanied by a weight of 549 grams (1.21 lbs).

Check the Olympus SZ-12 versus Sony A390 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you choose at the time. Below is the front view dimensions comparison of the SZ-12 compared to the A390.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the SZ-12 and A390 is 89 and 66 respectively.

Typically, its hard to visualize the contrast in sensor sizes only by looking through specs. The image below will help offer you a clearer sense of the sensor measurements in the SZ-12 and A390.

As you can plainly see, the two cameras enjoy the same exact megapixel count but different sensor sizes. The SZ-12 includes the smaller sensor which will make achieving shallow depth of field more challenging. The younger SZ-12 provides a benefit when it comes to sensor innovation.