Olympus SZ-12 vs Sony W830

Let's look a little more in depth at the Olympus SZ-12 versus Sony W830, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Ultracompact by competitors Olympus and Sony. There is a noticeable difference among the resolutions of the SZ-12 (14MP) and W830 (20MP) but both cameras have the same sensor size (1/2.3").

Photography Glossary

The SZ-12 was introduced 24 months earlier than the W830 making them a generation away from each other. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus SZ-12 being a Compact camera and the Sony W830 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before diving into a in-depth comparison, here is a concise view of how the SZ-12 scores against the W830 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus SZ-12 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W830. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus SZ-12 Gallery & Sony W830 Gallery.

If you're aiming to carry around your camera frequently, you'll need to consider its weight and dimensions. The Olympus SZ-12 has exterior 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) while the Sony W830 has dimensions of 93mm x 52mm x 23mm (3.7" x 2.0" x 0.9") along with a weight of 122 grams (0.27 lbs).

Look at the Olympus SZ-12 versus Sony W830 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you are using at that moment. The following is a front view measurements comparison of the SZ-12 against the W830.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability grade of the SZ-12 and W830 is 89 and 96 respectively.

Generally, its hard to imagine the contrast in sensor sizes just by checking out specs. The image below should give you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the SZ-12 and W830.

All in all, each of these cameras provide the same sensor dimensions but different resolution. You can expect to see the Sony W830 to produce more detail using its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will allow you to crop photos more aggressively. The more aged SZ-12 will be behind in sensor innovation.