Olympus VR-340 vs Sony RX1R

Lets look a bit more closely at the Olympus VR-340 and Sony RX1R, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Large Sensor Compact by competitors Olympus and Sony. There is a crucial difference between the image resolutions of the VR-340 (16MP) and RX1R (24MP) and the VR-340 (1/2.3") and RX1R (Full frame) come with totally different sensor dimensions.

Pentax 17 Pre-Orders Outperform Expectations by a Landslide

The VR-340 was announced 17 months earlier than the RX1R which makes the cameras a generation away from each other. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus VR-340 being a Compact camera and the Sony RX1R being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before we go straight into a thorough comparison, below is a simple summary of how the VR-340 matches up vs the RX1R with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus VR-340 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus VR-340 Gallery and Sony RX1R Gallery.

For anybody who is intending to carry around your camera, you will have to factor its weight and dimensions. The Olympus VR-340 comes with outside measurements of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") and a weight of 125 grams (0.28 lbs) whilst the Sony RX1R has dimensions of 113mm x 65mm x 70mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 2.8") along with a weight of 482 grams (1.06 lbs).

Look at the Olympus VR-340 and Sony RX1R in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you are working with at that moment. Below is the front view size comparison of the VR-340 compared to the RX1R.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability rating of the VR-340 and RX1R is 96 and 79 respectively.

Often, it's hard to see the difference between sensor sizes purely by going over technical specs. The pic underneath will help provide you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the VR-340 and RX1R.

As you can tell, both the cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The VR-340 with its tinier sensor will make shooting shallow DOF harder and the Sony RX1R will offer greater detail with its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop shots somewhat more aggressively. The more aged VR-340 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.