Olympus VR-340 vs Sony RX10

The following is a detailed assessment of the Olympus VR-340 and Sony RX10, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Large Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Sony. The image resolution of the VR-340 (16MP) and the RX10 (20MP) is pretty comparable but the VR-340 (1/2.3") and RX10 (1") offer different sensor dimensions.

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The VR-340 was manufactured 3 years before the RX10 which is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus VR-340 being a Compact camera and the Sony RX10 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before going straight to a thorough comparison, here is a quick summary of how the VR-340 scores versus the RX10 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus VR-340 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10. The entire galleries are available at Olympus VR-340 Gallery & Sony RX10 Gallery.

For those who are aiming to travel with your camera frequently, you need to consider its weight and volume. The Olympus VR-340 provides physical measurements of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") along with a weight of 125 grams (0.28 lbs) and the Sony RX10 has sizing of 129mm x 88mm x 102mm (5.1" x 3.5" x 4.0") and a weight of 813 grams (1.79 lbs).

See the Olympus VR-340 and Sony RX10 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you have attached at the time. Underneath is a front view scale comparison of the VR-340 compared to the RX10.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the VR-340 and RX10 is 96 and 58 respectively.

Typically, it can be tough to visualize the gap in sensor dimensions purely by checking out technical specs. The picture here may provide you a more clear sense of the sensor sizing in the VR-340 and RX10.

As you can tell, both of these cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The VR-340 featuring a smaller sensor is going to make getting shallower DOF more difficult and the Sony RX10 will provide more detail due to its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will let you crop pictures more aggressively. The more aged VR-340 will be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.