Olympus TG-860 vs Sony A560

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Olympus TG-860 and Sony A560, one being a Waterproof and the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. The resolution of the TG-860 (16MP) and the A560 (14MP) is very comparable but the TG-860 (1/2.3") and A560 (APS-C) feature different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The TG-860 was announced 4 years later than the A560 and that is a fairly big gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus TG-860 being a Ultracompact camera and the Sony A560 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going in to a full comparison, below is a concise highlight of how the TG-860 scores against the A560 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus Stylus Tough TG-860 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A560. The whole galleries are available at Olympus TG-860 Gallery and Sony A560 Gallery.

For those who are intending to carry your camera, you are going to need to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus TG-860 enjoys external dimensions of 110mm x 64mm x 28mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.1") accompanied by a weight of 224 grams (0.49 lbs) while the Sony A560 has sizing of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") and a weight of 599 grams (1.32 lbs).

Compare the Olympus TG-860 and Sony A560 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you select at that time. Here is the front view overall size comparison of the TG-860 versus the A560.

Considering size and weight, the portability rating of the TG-860 and A560 is 91 and 64 respectively.

Generally, it is tough to picture the difference in sensor sizing only by seeing specs. The visual underneath may provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the TG-860 and A560.

As you can plainly see, both of the cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The TG-860 having a smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF tougher and the Olympus TG-860 will produce greater detail with its extra 2MP. Greater resolution will also help you crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The younger TG-860 provides a benefit when it comes to sensor tech.