Olympus XZ-1 vs Sony A560

Let's take a deeper look at the Olympus XZ-1 and Sony A560, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a noticeable gap between the resolutions of the XZ-1 (10MP) and A560 (14MP) and the XZ-1 (1/1.63") and A560 (APS-C) provide different sensor sizing.

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The XZ-1 was manufactured 6 months later than the A560 which means that they are both of a similar age. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus XZ-1 being a Compact camera and the Sony A560 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going into a step-by-step comparison, here is a concise overview of how the XZ-1 matches up vs the A560 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus XZ-1 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A560. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus XZ-1 Gallery & Sony A560 Gallery.

In case you're going to carry your camera often, you have to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus XZ-1 offers outside measurements of 111mm x 65mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.7") having a weight of 275 grams (0.61 lbs) while the Sony A560 has dimensions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") accompanied by a weight of 599 grams (1.32 lbs).

Check the Olympus XZ-1 and Sony A560 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are utilising at that time. Below is a front view physical size comparison of the XZ-1 and the A560.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the XZ-1 and A560 is 88 and 64 respectively.

Sometimes, it is very hard to picture the gap between sensor sizing merely by checking technical specs. The photograph here may provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the XZ-1 and A560.

As you have seen, both of these cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The XZ-1 featuring a tinier sensor is going to make getting bokeh more challenging and the Sony A560 will give you more detail due to its extra 4MP. Greater resolution can also allow you to crop images a good deal more aggressively.