Olympus XZ-1 vs Sony A350

Its time to take a closer look at the Olympus XZ-1 vs Sony A350, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by brands Olympus and Sony. There is a big difference between the sensor resolutions of the XZ-1 (10MP) and A350 (14MP) and the XZ-1 (1/1.63") and A350 (APS-C) have totally different sensor sizes.

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The XZ-1 was introduced 2 years later than the A350 and that is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus XZ-1 being a Compact camera and the Sony A350 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going into a in-depth comparison, here is a short summary of how the XZ-1 grades against the A350 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus XZ-1 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A350. The whole galleries are available at Olympus XZ-1 Gallery and Sony A350 Gallery.

For those who are going to carry your camera, you need to take into account its weight and size. The Olympus XZ-1 has got exterior measurements of 111mm x 65mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 275 grams (0.61 lbs) and the Sony A350 has specifications of 131mm x 99mm x 75mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") along with a weight of 674 grams (1.49 lbs).

Examine the Olympus XZ-1 vs Sony A350 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you select at the time. Following is a front view over all size comparison of the XZ-1 compared to the A350.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the XZ-1 and A350 is 88 and 62 respectively.

Generally, it is very difficult to see the gap between sensor sizing only by reading through technical specs. The visual here will help provide you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the XZ-1 and A350.

As you have seen, both of those cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The XZ-1 having a tinier sensor will make getting bokeh more challenging and the Sony A350 will resolve extra detail using its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop images more aggressively. The fresher XZ-1 will have a benefit in sensor technology.