Olympus 1s vs Sony S950

Its time to look closer at the Olympus 1s vs Sony S950, one being a Small Sensor Superzoom and the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by companies Olympus and Sony. The image resolution of the 1s (12MP) and the S950 (10MP) is relatively close but the 1s (1/1.7") and S950 (1/2.3") possess totally different sensor size.

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The 1s was announced 6 years later than the S950 and that is a fairly significant gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus 1s being a SLR-like (bridge) camera and the Sony S950 being a Compact camera.

Before we go straight into a comprehensive comparison, below is a brief summation of how the 1s matches up against the S950 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus Stylus 1s and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S950. The whole galleries are available at Olympus 1s Gallery and Sony S950 Gallery.

If you're going to lug around your camera often, you should think about its weight and size. The Olympus 1s enjoys external measurements of 116mm x 87mm x 57mm (4.6" x 3.4" x 2.2") with a weight of 402 grams (0.89 lbs) while the Sony S950 has specifications of 93mm x 56mm x 24mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") with a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs).

Examine the Olympus 1s vs Sony S950 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you use at that time. Following is the front view measurements comparison of the 1s compared to the S950.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the 1s and S950 is 79 and 94 respectively.

Sometimes, its hard to visualise the gap in sensor measurements just by researching specifications. The visual here will provide you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the 1s and S950.

To sum up, both the cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The 1s with its bigger sensor will make shooting bokeh simpler and the Olympus 1s will result in greater detail with its extra 2MP. Higher resolution will also let you crop photographs somewhat more aggressively. The fresher 1s is going to have an edge in sensor technology.