Olympus TG-860 vs Sony A300

Let's look a little more closely at the Olympus TG-860 and Sony A300, former is a Waterproof while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a substantial gap between the resolutions of the TG-860 (16MP) and A300 (10MP) and the TG-860 (1/2.3") and A300 (APS-C) have different sensor sizing.

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The TG-860 was brought out 7 years after the A300 which is quite a big difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus TG-860 being a Ultracompact camera and the Sony A300 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before we go into a full comparison, here is a simple summary of how the TG-860 scores vs the A300 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus Stylus Tough TG-860 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A300. The entire galleries are available at Olympus TG-860 Gallery & Sony A300 Gallery.

When you are aiming to carry around your camera often, you need to consider its weight and dimensions. The Olympus TG-860 comes with outer dimensions of 110mm x 64mm x 28mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.1") and a weight of 224 grams (0.49 lbs) while the Sony A300 has dimensions of 131mm x 99mm x 75mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") along with a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs).

Examine the Olympus TG-860 and Sony A300 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you have chosen at that moment. Following is a front view physical size comparison of the TG-860 against the A300.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the TG-860 and A300 is 91 and 64 respectively.

Quite often, its hard to visualize the difference between sensor sizes simply by reading specifications. The pic below may offer you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the TG-860 and A300.

To sum up, each of the cameras feature different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The TG-860 because of its tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF more difficult and the Olympus TG-860 will deliver extra detail having its extra 6MP. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop images way more aggressively. The more recent TG-860 should have an advantage when it comes to sensor tech.