Olympus SZ-31MR iHS vs Sony A380

Its time to look a bit more closely at the Olympus SZ-31MR iHS and Sony A380, one being a Small Sensor Superzoom and the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. The image resolution of the SZ-31MR iHS (16MP) and the A380 (14MP) is pretty well matched but the SZ-31MR iHS (1/2.3") and A380 (APS-C) come with different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The SZ-31MR iHS was manufactured 2 years later than the A380 and that is quite a sizable gap as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus SZ-31MR iHS being a Compact camera and the Sony A380 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going in to a in-depth comparison, below is a brief introduction of how the SZ-31MR iHS scores vs the A380 for portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus SZ-31MR iHS and Sony Alpha DSLR-A380. The entire galleries are available at Olympus SZ-31MR iHS Gallery and Sony A380 Gallery.

In case you're going to carry your camera regularly, you are going to need to factor its weight and measurements. The Olympus SZ-31MR iHS offers external dimensions of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") and a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs) and the Sony A380 has proportions of 128mm x 97mm x 71mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 2.8") accompanied by a weight of 519 grams (1.14 lbs).

Check out the Olympus SZ-31MR iHS and Sony A380 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you choose at that moment. Here is the front view measurements comparison of the SZ-31MR iHS compared to the A380.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the SZ-31MR iHS and A380 is 89 and 68 respectively.

In many cases, it is hard to picture the contrast between sensor sizing purely by checking specifications. The visual here will help offer you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the SZ-31MR iHS and A380.

To sum up, both of these cameras offer different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The SZ-31MR iHS featuring a tinier sensor is going to make achieving shallower DOF more challenging and the Olympus SZ-31MR iHS will give more detail due to its extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also help you crop pictures a little more aggressively. The younger SZ-31MR iHS should have an advantage with regard to sensor innovation.