Olympus TG-870 vs Sony A850

Here is a extensive overview of the Olympus TG-870 and Sony A850, former being a Ultracompact while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a sizable difference between the sensor resolutions of the TG-870 (16MP) and A850 (25MP) and the TG-870 (1/2.3") and A850 (Full frame) offer different sensor sizing.

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The TG-870 was revealed 5 years later than the A850 and that is quite a significant difference as far as tech is concerned. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus TG-870 being a Ultracompact camera and the Sony A850 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before we go into a detailed comparison, here is a quick summation of how the TG-870 matches up vs the A850 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus Stylus Tough TG-870 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A850. The full galleries are provided at Olympus TG-870 Gallery & Sony A850 Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to carry your camera often, you are going to need to factor its weight and size. The Olympus TG-870 comes with physical measurements of 113mm x 64mm x 28mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.1") accompanied by a weight of 221 grams (0.49 lbs) whilst the Sony A850 has specifications of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") and a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs).

See the Olympus TG-870 and Sony A850 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you have attached at that time. Following is a front view sizing comparison of the TG-870 and the A850.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability score of the TG-870 and A850 is 91 and 54 respectively.

Often, it can be hard to visualize the gap between sensor sizing merely by looking at specs. The visual below will help provide you a greater sense of the sensor sizing in the TG-870 and A850.

As you can plainly see, the 2 cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The TG-870 using its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallower DOF more difficult and the Sony A850 will give more detail because of its extra 9 Megapixels. Higher resolution will allow you to crop photographs more aggressively. The more modern TG-870 should have an advantage in sensor innovation.