Olympus SZ-31MR iHS vs Sony A850

Let's look much closer at the Olympus SZ-31MR iHS vs Sony A850, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a sizable gap between the sensor resolutions of the SZ-31MR iHS (16MP) and A850 (25MP) and the SZ-31MR iHS (1/2.3") and A850 (Full frame) have totally different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The SZ-31MR iHS was manufactured 23 months later than the A850 which makes them a generation apart from one another. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus SZ-31MR iHS being a Compact camera and the Sony A850 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before diving right into a in-depth comparison, here is a brief introduction of how the SZ-31MR iHS grades vs the A850 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus SZ-31MR iHS & Sony Alpha DSLR-A850. The entire galleries are provided at Olympus SZ-31MR iHS Gallery & Sony A850 Gallery.

If you're planning to lug around your camera frequently, you need to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus SZ-31MR iHS offers outside dimensions of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") along with a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs) whilst the Sony A850 has measurements of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") and a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs).

Check out the Olympus SZ-31MR iHS vs Sony A850 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are employing at that time. Following is a front view physical size comparison of the SZ-31MR iHS against the A850.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the SZ-31MR iHS and A850 is 89 and 54 respectively.

Normally, it's hard to see the gap between sensor measurements purely by reading a spec sheet. The graphic below may give you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the SZ-31MR iHS and A850.

Clearly, both of those cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The SZ-31MR iHS featuring a tinier sensor will make getting shallow depth of field tougher and the Sony A850 will offer greater detail due to its extra 9 Megapixels. Higher resolution will make it easier to crop pictures a bit more aggressively. The more recent SZ-31MR iHS will have an advantage in sensor innovation.