Olympus XZ-1 vs Sony RX10

Its time to look closer at the Olympus XZ-1 vs Sony RX10, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Large Sensor Superzoom by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a noticeable gap among the resolutions of the XZ-1 (10MP) and RX10 (20MP) and the XZ-1 (1/1.63") and RX10 (1") have different sensor sizes.

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The XZ-1 was manufactured 4 years earlier than the RX10 which is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus XZ-1 being a Compact camera and the Sony RX10 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before going straight to a comprehensive comparison, here is a brief overview of how the XZ-1 grades against the RX10 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus XZ-1 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus XZ-1 Gallery & Sony RX10 Gallery.

If you are planning to travel with your camera frequently, you're going to have to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus XZ-1 features exterior dimensions of 111mm x 65mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.7") with a weight of 275 grams (0.61 lbs) while the Sony RX10 has measurements of 129mm x 88mm x 102mm (5.1" x 3.5" x 4.0") with a weight of 813 grams (1.79 lbs).

Look at the Olympus XZ-1 vs Sony RX10 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you have at that time. Here is a front view measurement comparison of the XZ-1 versus the RX10.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the XZ-1 and RX10 is 88 and 58 respectively.

Normally, its difficult to imagine the gap in sensor dimensions merely by seeing a spec sheet. The pic below may give you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the XZ-1 and RX10.

As you can see, the two cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The XZ-1 due to its smaller sensor is going to make shooting shallow depth of field more challenging and the Sony RX10 will provide more detail due to its extra 10 Megapixels. Higher resolution will help you crop pictures a good deal more aggressively. The more aged XZ-1 will be behind with regard to sensor technology.