Exploring the Compact Powerhouses: Olympus SZ-16 iHS vs. Sony HX80

In the realm of compact superzoom cameras, finding the right balance between portability, zoom reach, image quality, and usability can be challenging. Today, I take an in-depth look at two contenders in this niche: the Olympus SZ-16 iHS, introduced in early 2013, and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX80 from 2016. Both pack quite a punch for their size, yet cater to different priorities and photographer types. Having spent weeks shooting across diverse scenarios with each, including street, wildlife, macro, and travel photography, I’ll guide you through their core strengths, limitations, and real-world value. Whether you’re a casual enthusiast or a seasoned traveler seeking a lightweight zoom-all-rounder, this comparison will help clarify which might best suit your creative needs.

First Impressions: A Tale of Two Compact Zooms

Before delving into technical details, let’s talk about how these cameras feel handling-wise, because often, first impressions lay the groundwork for ongoing enjoyment.

The Olympus SZ-16 iHS is a slightly chunkier compact at 108 x 70 x 40 mm and weighs 226 grams, while the Sony HX80 measures a sleeker 102 x 58 x 36 mm and tips the scales at 245 grams. Although the Sony is denser, it’s visually more streamlined and pocketable, making it a better candidate for discreet street or travel photography.

I personally found the Olympus’s heft easier to grip steadily for longer sessions, but the HX80’s compactness feels liberating when you prioritize portability. Both cameras eschew interchangeable lenses, so their fixed superzoom lenses define much of the user experience.

Design and Controls: Simplicity Meets Functionality

Looking down on the crowns of these two cameras reveals interesting philosophies. The Olympus SZ-16 embraces minimalism, with straightforward button placement, but lacks dedicated manual controls. This makes it highly beginner-friendly but somewhat limiting for photographers who want creative exposure control.

The Sony HX80 shines here with a more comprehensive control layout - offering shutter priority, aperture priority, and full manual exposure modes could appeal to enthusiasts eager for in-camera flexibility. The tilting 3-inch rear LCD on the Sony has almost double the resolution (921k vs. 460k pixels on Olympus), and its eye-level electronic viewfinder, absent on the Olympus, adds compositional options in bright outdoor environments.

In practice, the HX80’s controls and viewfinder gave me confidence shooting fast-moving subjects and challenging light. Olympus’s simplicity is great for grab-and-go shooting but might frustrate photographers wanting more manual engagement.

Sensor and Image Quality: The Heart of the Matter

Both cameras employ a small 1/2.3” sensor size measuring 6.17 x 4.55 mm, standard in most bridge compacts. However, Sony edges ahead with an 18-megapixel BSI-CMOS sensor versus Olympus's 16-megapixel standard CMOS. The back-illuminated design in Sony’s sensor generally improves low-light performance and dynamic range, crucial for extracting detail from shadows and highlights.

From my lab tests and field shooting, here’s what I observed:

• Resolution & Detail: The HX80’s 4896 x 3672 pixel output delivers slightly crisper detail and can be printed slightly larger before softness emerges.
• Noise & ISO Performance: Sony’s BSI sensor and newer Bionz X processor produce cleaner images at higher ISOs. While both cameras struggle above ISO 800 due to physical sensor limitations, the HX80 maintains usable detail up to ISO 3200. The Olympus maxes out at ISO 6400, but the noise becomes quite disruptive from ISO 1600 onwards.
• Color Rendition: Both produce pleasant colors, but Olympus tends toward warmer tones, which may favor skin tones slightly in portraiture. Sony yields a more neutral, natural palette that can be tweaked in post effortlessly.
• Anti-alias Filter: Both cameras include an anti-alias filter, which smooths moiré but slightly softens images at the pixel level.

Bottom line: If you value high-resolution output with better noise control and dynamic range for landscapes or low-light scenes, the Sony HX80’s imaging engine gives it a clear advantage.

LCDs and Viewfinders: Framing Your Shot

The Olympus SZ-16 opts for a fixed 3-inch TFT LCD with 460k dots resolution. This is functional but dimmer and less detailed when shooting in bright sunlight, resulting in frequent hunting for ideal viewing angles.

In contrast, the Sony features a 3-inch tilting LCD with 921k dots - its dual benefit of higher resolution and articulation allows versatile framing, particularly useful for macro, low-angle, or high-angle shots. Moreover, the HX80's eye-level electronic viewfinder fills a vital gap left by the Olympus, especially in sunny environments where LCD glare hampers composition. While the HX80's EVF lacks resolution specs, its 100% coverage and real-time exposure preview make it an indispensable tool for serious users.

In my experience, I often switched between LCD and EVF on the Sony depending on lighting and shooting style. The Olympus’s simpler fixed screen suits casual snapshots but hampers creativity when angles need flexibility.

Optical Zoom and Lens Performance: Reaching Farther, Seeing Clearer

Both cameras are superzooms with substantial reach, but their focal ranges differ subtly:

• Olympus SZ-16: 25-600 mm (24x zoom), max aperture F3.0 - F6.9
• Sony HX80: 24-720 mm (30x zoom), max aperture F3.5 - F6.4

The Sony's slightly wider starting focal length and longer maximum telephoto extend framing options, offering more versatility for distant wildlife or sports photography.

Olympus SZ 16 iHS front Olympus SZ 16 iHS screen back Sony HX80 front Sony HX80 screen back

While neither lens matches prime optics in sharpness or bokeh quality, I noticed:

• Sony’s lens produces finer corner-to-corner sharpness, especially at wide-angle and medium zoom settings.
• Olympus’s lens is a little faster at the wide end (f/3.0 vs. f/3.5), which helps in low light, but the aperture narrows quickly at longer zooms, affecting depth of field and low-light reach.
• Neither system offers macro focus stacking or post-focus features, but Sony can focus as close as 5cm, allowing tighter macro shots with pleasant background separation.

If long reach and a bit more sharpness matter to you, Sony HX80’s lens is the better tool. Olympus’s lens speed advantage is modest and doesn’t compensate for the crop in image quality.

Autofocus and Burst Shooting: Capturing the Moment

In fast-action photography, autofocus responsiveness and continuous shooting matter enormously.

The Olympus SZ-16 uses contrast-detection autofocus with face detection, but lacks continuous autofocus and offers only 2 FPS continuous shooting - quite limiting for any movement-intensive subject.

The Sony HX80 employs contrast-detection with sophisticated face and eye detection and delivers continuous autofocus alongside a respectable 10 FPS burst rate. Its AF algorithms are noticeably quicker and more confident locking onto subjects in varied lighting.

In my real-world use:

• Wildlife and sports photos were challenging on Olympus - many shots missed focus or arrived too late.
• Sony handled bird flights, kids at play, and street performers with greater accuracy and consistency.
• The HX80’s AF tracking and selection modes provided a welcome edge during unpredictable moments.

For any user wanting to capture action or wildlife, Sony is the clear winner.

Video Features: Beyond Stills

Neither camera shoots 4K, but their HD video capabilities differ:

• Olympus SZ-16: 1280 x 720p at 30 fps, limited codec support (MPEG-4, H.264).
• Sony HX80: Full HD 1920 x 1080p at 60i, 60p, 30p, and 24p options, plus MPEG-4, AVCHD, and the high-bitrate XAVC S codec.

Sony’s video shines with smoother frame rates, higher resolution, and improved codec choices, supporting better post-processing and clean playback. The HX80 also uses optical steady shot image stabilization that works well during handheld clips, resulting in less jitter compared to Olympus’s sensor-shift stabilization, which primarily benefits stills.

Neither camera supports external microphones, limiting audio capture quality. Lack of a touchscreen on both makes menu navigation slightly slower than current standards.

Battery Life and Storage Flexibility

Sony packs a bigger punch on battery endurance - rated at approximately 390 shots per charge compared to Olympus's modest 220 shots. For extensive travel, this difference translates to fewer battery swaps and recharges.

Olympus uses the LI-50B battery, while Sony rides on NP-BX1 packs, which are widely available and compatible with other Sony models, a minor logistical advantage.

Sony also supports both SD cards and proprietary Memory Stick formats, offering storage flexibility. Olympus accepts standard SD/SDHC/SDXC cards but no alternative.

Wireless and Connectivity: Modern Convenience

Sony HX80 supports built-in wireless connectivity with NFC, facilitating quick image transfer and remote control via smartphones, security that Olympus lacks entirely.

Both have HDMI and USB 2.0 ports for tethering and external display, but the SX-16 does not integrate wireless features, limiting its efficiency in today’s connected workflows.

Build, Weather Sealing, and Durability

Neither camera offers weather or dust sealing, shockproofing, or freeze resistance. Both models are best kept away from harsh environments.

With relatively compact footprints and light construction, neither is designed for rugged professional usage but more for casual and travel convenience.

Performance Breakdown at a Glance

To visually consolidate our findings, here’s an overall weighted score comparison based on image quality, autofocus performance, handling, and advanced features:

And here’s a genre-specific performance breakdown that reflects their different strengths across photographic disciplines:

How They Stack Up for Different Photography Genres

Portrait Photography

Sony’s superior sensor, better face and eye detection, plus superior autofocus tracking make it a better choice for portraits. Olympus’s warmer tones appeal somewhat, but the lack of manual exposure control restricts creative lighting effects.

Landscape Photography

Sony’s higher resolution and better dynamic range, combined with tilting LCD and better lens sharpness, provide an edge. Olympus’s slightly faster wide aperture is negligible here. Lack of weather sealing in both suggests care on outdoor shoots.

Wildlife Photography

Sony’s faster continuous AF and 10 FPS burst trump Olympus’s 2 FPS, making the HX80 far more competent for capturing fleeting moments in nature.

Sports Photography

Again, fast AF and high burst rate give Sony the clear lead. Olympus’s performance is too slow for anything but the most leisurely sports.

Street Photography

Olympus’s simpler control layout and modest size could favor casual street shooters wanting minimal fuss. Sony’s compact size and EVF support discrete, fast shooting and brighter LCD, suiting more serious street photographers.

Macro Photography

Sony’s closer minimum focusing distance (5 cm) and tilting screen help achieve better macro framing and detail. Olympus lacks dedicated macro support.

Night/Astro Photography

Sony’s cleaner high ISO capability and longer exposure range, plus manual exposure modes, support night scenes better. Olympus is more limited here.

Video

Sony’s full HD 1080p at 60 fps and superior stabilization make it the go-to for casual video shooters.

Travel Photography

Sony edges out with longer battery life, wireless transfer, and versatile controls in a compact form factor, ideal for multi-day adventures.

Professional Work

Neither is targeted at professionals needing RAW capture or strong ruggedness. However, Sony’s manual controls, exposure compensation, and codec variety provide more workflow flexibility.

Final Thoughts and Recommendations

Choosing between the Olympus SZ-16 iHS and Sony HX80 comes down mostly to your priorities:

• If you want a straightforward, budget-friendly zoom camera for casual snapshotting with simple controls and acceptable image quality in well-lit conditions, Olympus SZ-16 is a decent, affordable option at roughly $230. It’s easy to use and delivers respectable zoom reach but expect limits in speed, control, and low-light.

• If you seek greater versatility, higher image quality, faster autofocus and burst shooting for action, plus superior video and connectivity, the Sony HX80 at around $370 is worth the extra investment. It is well suited for enthusiastic travelers, street photographers, and hobbyists who want to push creative boundaries within a compact package.

Olympus SZ 16 iHS front Olympus SZ 16 iHS screen back Sony HX80 front Sony HX80 screen back

From my extensive hands-on testing carried out over hundreds of varied shooting scenarios, the HX80 consistently outperforms the Olympus in almost every meaningful photographic respect, albeit with slightly more demanding menus and a higher entry price. Olympus, meanwhile, still holds appeal as a simple superzoom for casual shooters.

I hope this comparison helps you steer toward the right camera to unleash your creativity or capture life’s moments with confidence. Neither camera replaces a DSLR or mirrorless, but for compact convenience and superzoom reach, both hold valuable places - I encourage you to weigh their trade-offs observed here based on your personal style and shooting goals.

If you have questions about specific shooting conditions or need suggestions on accessories and lenses compatible with these models (fixed lens but with filters possible), drop me a line. Sharing my experience is how I make camera choices better informed and photography more joyful for everyone.

Safe shooting!