Olympus SP-820UZ vs Sony A55

Its time to take a deeper look at the Olympus SP-820UZ vs Sony A55, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the SP-820UZ (14MP) and the A55 (16MP) is relatively similar but the SP-820UZ (1/2.3") and A55 (APS-C) come with totally different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The SP-820UZ was launched 2 years later than the A55 and that is quite a significant difference as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus SP-820UZ being a Compact camera and the Sony A55 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going straight into a detailed comparison, below is a concise highlight of how the SP-820UZ scores vs the A55 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus Stylus SP-820UZ & Sony SLT-A55. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus SP-820UZ Gallery & Sony A55 Gallery.

For those who are planning to lug around your camera frequently, you should factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus SP-820UZ provides outer measurements of 117mm x 78mm x 93mm (4.6" x 3.1" x 3.7") accompanied by a weight of 485 grams (1.07 lbs) whilst the Sony A55 has measurements of 124mm x 92mm x 85mm (4.9" x 3.6" x 3.3") along with a weight of 500 grams (1.10 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus SP-820UZ vs Sony A55 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you use at the time. Below is the front view overall size comparison of the SP-820UZ versus the A55.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the SP-820UZ and A55 is 69 and 67 respectively.

Often, it's hard to visualise the difference between sensor measurements simply by reviewing a spec sheet. The photograph below will help offer you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the SP-820UZ and A55.

Clearly, each of these cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The SP-820UZ due to its tinier sensor will make achieving shallower DOF tougher and the Sony A55 will deliver greater detail utilizing its extra 2MP. Higher resolution can also let you crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The newer SP-820UZ will have an advantage in sensor technology.