Olympus 8000 vs Sony A300

Following is a complete analysis of the Olympus 8000 vs Sony A300, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the 8000 (12MP) and the A300 (10MP) is fairly close but the 8000 (1/2.3") and A300 (APS-C) feature different sensor dimensions.

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The 8000 was revealed 18 months after the A300 making the cameras a generation away from each other. Each of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus 8000 being a Compact camera and the Sony A300 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving in to a step-by-step comparison, below is a brief overview of how the 8000 grades versus the A300 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A300. The full galleries are available at Olympus 8000 Gallery & Sony A300 Gallery.

In case you're going to carry around your camera regularly, you should take into account its weight and measurements. The Olympus 8000 comes with exterior dimensions of 95mm x 62mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 0.9") with a weight of 182 grams (0.40 lbs) and the Sony A300 has proportions of 131mm x 99mm x 75mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") with a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs).

Compare the Olympus 8000 vs Sony A300 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you use at the time. Below is the front view proportions comparison of the 8000 against the A300.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability grade of the 8000 and A300 is 94 and 64 respectively.

Generally, it can be hard to visualize the difference in sensor sizes merely by looking through specifications. The pic here will help offer you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the 8000 and A300.

To sum up, both of the cameras offer different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The 8000 using its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field trickier and the Olympus 8000 will render more detail because of its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop images a little more aggressively. The younger 8000 should have an advantage in sensor innovation.