Olympus SH-1 vs Sony A700

Let's look a little more closely at the Olympus SH-1 versus Sony A700, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Advanced DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap between the image resolutions of the SH-1 (16MP) and A700 (12MP) and the SH-1 (1/2.3") and A700 (APS-C) boast totally different sensor sizing.

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The SH-1 was introduced 6 years later than the A700 and that is quite a large difference as far as technology is concerned. Both cameras feature different body design with the Olympus SH-1 being a Compact camera and the Sony A700 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before getting into a in depth comparison, here is a brief summary of how the SH-1 matches up vs the A700 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus Stylus SH-1 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A700. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus SH-1 Gallery & Sony A700 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to lug around your camera, you will have to take into account its weight and size. The Olympus SH-1 provides exterior dimensions of 109mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.7") and a weight of 271 grams (0.60 lbs) while the Sony A700 has specifications of 142mm x 105mm x 80mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.1") having a weight of 768 grams (1.69 lbs).

Check out the Olympus SH-1 versus Sony A700 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are working with at that time. Underneath is a front view dimension comparison of the SH-1 versus the A700.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the SH-1 and A700 is 88 and 58 respectively.

Typically, it can be hard to envision the difference between sensor measurements simply by reading through technical specs. The graphic here might give you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the SH-1 and A700.

As you have seen, both of these cameras feature different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The SH-1 using its tinier sensor will make getting bokeh more difficult and the Olympus SH-1 will resolve more detail using its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will enable you to crop images way more aggressively. The younger SH-1 is going to have an edge with regard to sensor technology.