Olympus VR-340 vs Sony A290

Below is a detailed analysis of the Olympus VR-340 and Sony A290, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. The image resolution of the VR-340 (16MP) and the A290 (14MP) is fairly well matched but the VR-340 (1/2.3") and A290 (APS-C) posses different sensor measurements.

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The VR-340 was launched 20 months later than the A290 making them a generation apart from one another. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus VR-340 being a Compact camera and the Sony A290 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going into a comprehensive comparison, here is a simple introduction of how the VR-340 scores vs the A290 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus VR-340 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A290. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus VR-340 Gallery & Sony A290 Gallery.

For those who are intending to lug around your camera, you're going to have to think about its weight and size. The Olympus VR-340 offers physical measurements of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") accompanied by a weight of 125 grams (0.28 lbs) and the Sony A290 has specifications of 128mm x 97mm x 86mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 3.4") with a weight of 549 grams (1.21 lbs).

Look at the Olympus VR-340 and Sony A290 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you choose at that moment. Below is a front view proportions comparison of the VR-340 vs the A290.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the VR-340 and A290 is 96 and 66 respectively.

Typically, its difficult to picture the contrast between sensor measurements only by checking specifications. The visual underneath should provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the VR-340 and A290.

Plainly, each of the cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The VR-340 featuring a tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallower depth of field trickier and the Olympus VR-340 will give you more detail utilizing its extra 2MP. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop images more aggressively. The fresher VR-340 provides a benefit with regard to sensor tech.