Olympus Tough-3000 vs Sony RX10 III

The following is a thorough assessment of the Olympus Tough-3000 vs Sony RX10 III, former is a Waterproof while the other is a Large Sensor Superzoom by companies Olympus and Sony. There is a considerable difference among the sensor resolutions of the Tough-3000 (12MP) and RX10 III (20MP) and the Tough-3000 (1/2.3") and RX10 III (1") offer totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The Tough-3000 was manufactured 7 years prior to the RX10 III which is a fairly large difference as far as camera tech is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus Tough-3000 being a Compact camera and the Sony RX10 III being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before going straight to a detailed comparison, here is a concise highlight of how the Tough-3000 matches up versus the RX10 III for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus Stylus Tough-3000 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 III. The entire galleries are available at Olympus Tough-3000 Gallery & Sony RX10 III Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to travel with your camera often, you will need to think about its weight and volume. The Olympus Tough-3000 has got external dimensions of 96mm x 65mm x 23mm (3.8" x 2.6" x 0.9") along with a weight of 159 grams (0.35 lbs) whilst the Sony RX10 III has sizing of 133mm x 94mm x 127mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 5.0") and a weight of 1051 grams (2.32 lbs).

Look at the Olympus Tough-3000 vs Sony RX10 III in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you use at the time. The following is a front view measurements comparison of the Tough-3000 against the RX10 III.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the Tough-3000 and RX10 III is 94 and 53 respectively.

Oftentimes, it's hard to visualise the difference in sensor dimensions simply by looking through a spec sheet. The image below will provide you a clearer sense of the sensor sizes in the Tough-3000 and RX10 III.

Clearly, both of those cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The Tough-3000 featuring a smaller sensor will make getting shallower DOF more challenging and the Sony RX10 III will result in more detail due to its extra 8MP. Greater resolution can also allow you to crop pics more aggressively. The more aged Tough-3000 will be behind in sensor innovation.