Olympus Tough-3000 vs Sony A390

Let's look more closely at the Olympus Tough-3000 and Sony A390, former being a Waterproof while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the Tough-3000 (12MP) and the A390 (14MP) is fairly well matched but the Tough-3000 (1/2.3") and A390 (APS-C) provide totally different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The Tough-3000 was revealed 6 months prior to the A390 which means that they are both of a similar age. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus Tough-3000 being a Compact camera and the Sony A390 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving right into a more detailed comparison, here is a quick synopsis of how the Tough-3000 scores vs the A390 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus Stylus Tough-3000 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A390. The full galleries are provided at Olympus Tough-3000 Gallery & Sony A390 Gallery.

For anyone who is intending to lug around your camera often, you have to take into account its weight and size. The Olympus Tough-3000 has got external measurements of 96mm x 65mm x 23mm (3.8" x 2.6" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 159 grams (0.35 lbs) and the Sony A390 has specifications of 128mm x 97mm x 86mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 3.4") accompanied by a weight of 549 grams (1.21 lbs).

Examine the Olympus Tough-3000 and Sony A390 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you are utilising at that moment. Following is a front view physical size comparison of the Tough-3000 against the A390.

Looking at size and weight, the portability score of the Tough-3000 and A390 is 94 and 66 respectively.

Oftentimes, it is very difficult to see the gap between sensor measurements simply by looking at specifications. The visual below will help offer you a more clear sense of the sensor measurements in the Tough-3000 and A390.

Plainly, both of these cameras have different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The Tough-3000 using its tinier sensor will make achieving shallow DOF trickier and the Sony A390 will give more detail because of its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also let you crop photos a bit more aggressively.