Olympus VH-515 vs Sony A380

Lets take a deeper look at the Olympus VH-515 versus Sony A380, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the VH-515 (12MP) and the A380 (14MP) is very well matched but the VH-515 (1/2.3") and A380 (APS-C) enjoy different sensor measurements.

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The VH-515 was announced 3 years after the A380 which is quite a serious difference as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus VH-515 being a Compact camera and the Sony A380 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving straight into a in depth comparison, below is a concise highlight of how the VH-515 scores against the A380 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus VH-515 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A380. The whole galleries are available at Olympus VH-515 Gallery & Sony A380 Gallery.

If you are intending to carry around your camera, you'll have to factor its weight and measurements. The Olympus VH-515 enjoys physical measurements of 102mm x 60mm x 21mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 0.8") and a weight of 152 grams (0.34 lbs) while the Sony A380 has proportions of 128mm x 97mm x 71mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 2.8") having a weight of 519 grams (1.14 lbs).

See the Olympus VH-515 versus Sony A380 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you use at that time. The following is the front view sizing comparison of the VH-515 vs the A380.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability rating of the VH-515 and A380 is 95 and 68 respectively.

Often, it can be difficult to picture the contrast between sensor sizes purely by checking specs. The picture below will give you a clearer sense of the sensor sizing in the VH-515 and A380.

As you can plainly see, each of the cameras have got different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The VH-515 using its tinier sensor is going to make achieving shallower depth of field harder and the Sony A380 will resolve more detail with its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also let you crop images much more aggressively. The more recent VH-515 provides an advantage in sensor innovation.