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Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony HX300

Portability
85
Imaging
37
Features
67
Overall
49
Olympus XZ-2 iHS front
 
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 front
Portability
63
Imaging
44
Features
51
Overall
46

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony HX300 Key Specs

Olympus XZ-2 iHS
(Full Review)
  • 12MP - 1/1.7" Sensor
  • 3" Tilting Display
  • ISO 100 - 12800
  • Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
  • 1920 x 1080 video
  • 28-112mm (F1.8-2.5) lens
  • 346g - 113 x 65 x 48mm
  • Introduced December 2012
Sony HX300
(Full Review)
  • 20MP - 1/2.3" Sensor
  • 3" Tilting Screen
  • ISO 80 - 12800
  • Optical Image Stabilization
  • 1920 x 1080 video
  • 24-1200mm (F2.8-6.3) lens
  • 623g - 130 x 103 x 93mm
  • Revealed February 2013
  • Succeeded the Sony HX200V
  • Refreshed by Sony HX400V
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Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony HX300 Overview

Lets look closer at the Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Sony HX300, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap between the image resolutions of the XZ-2 iHS (12MP) and HX300 (20MP) and the XZ-2 iHS (1/1.7") and HX300 (1/2.3") have totally different sensor sizing.

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The XZ-2 iHS was brought out 2 months prior to the HX300 and they are of a similar age. Both of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus XZ-2 iHS being a Compact camera and the Sony HX300 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before getting straight to a thorough comparison, here is a quick summary of how the XZ-2 iHS scores versus the HX300 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

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Reasons to pick Olympus XZ-2 iHS over the Sony HX300

 XZ-2 iHS HX300 
Touch screen Quickly navigate

Reasons to pick Sony HX300 over the Olympus XZ-2 iHS

 HX300 XZ-2 iHS 
Screen resolution921k920kSharper screen (+1k dot)

Common features in the Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Sony HX300

 XZ-2 iHS HX300 
RevealedDecember 2012February 2013Similar age
Manual focus Very precise focusing
Screen typeTiltingTiltingTilting screen
Screen size3"3"Same screen measurement
Selfie screen Neither comes with selfie screen

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony HX300 Physical Comparison

When you are aiming to travel with your camera regularly, you'll need to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus XZ-2 iHS comes with outside dimensions of 113mm x 65mm x 48mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.9") having a weight of 346 grams (0.76 lbs) whilst the Sony HX300 has sizing of 130mm x 103mm x 93mm (5.1" x 4.1" x 3.7") accompanied by a weight of 623 grams (1.37 lbs).

Look at the Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Sony HX300 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool. Camera Size Comparison with Lenses

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you have chosen during that time. Following is a front view size comparison of the XZ-2 iHS against the HX300.

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony HX300 size comparison

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the XZ-2 iHS and HX300 is 85 and 63 respectively.

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony HX300 top view buttons comparison

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony HX300 Sensor Comparison

Typically, its difficult to see the difference between sensor dimensions simply by checking specifications. The picture here will offer you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the XZ-2 iHS and HX300.

To sum up, both of the cameras feature different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The XZ-2 iHS because of its bigger sensor will make getting shallow depth of field less difficult and the Sony HX300 will give more detail having its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will allow you to crop pictures way more aggressively.

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony HX300 sensor size comparison

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony HX300 Screen and ViewFinder

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony HX300 Screen and Viewfinder comparison
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Photography Type Scores

Portrait Comparison

Olympus XZ-2 iHS Portrait photography information
Sony HX300 Portrait photography information
46
manual focus
features face detect focus
supports RAW files
megapixel count low (12MP)
sensor size is tiny (1/1.7")
42
you can focus manually
good megapixels (20 megapixels)
no external flash support
small sensor size (1/2.3")
does not have RAW format
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Street Comparison

Street photography with Olympus XZ-2 iHS
Street photography with Sony HX300
66
screen tilts up and down
has image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
supports RAW files
sensor size is tiny (1/1.7")
more heavy than average (346 grams)
50
screen tilts up and down
built in image stabilization (Optical)
small sensor size (1/2.3")
does not have RAW format
heavier than competition (623g)
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Sports Comparison

Sports photography with Olympus XZ-2 iHS
Sports photography with Sony HX300
43
has image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
features tracking focus
better than average battery pack (340 CIPA)
megapixel count low (12MP)
sensor size is tiny (1/1.7")
does not have phase detect auto focus
55
long zoom range (24-1200mm 50.0 x zoom)
built in image stabilization (Optical)
good megapixels (20 megapixels)
features tracking focus
small sensor size (1/2.3")
does not have phase detect auto focus
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Travel Comparison

Olympus XZ-2 iHS Travel photography factors
Sony HX300 Travel photography factors
61
better than average battery pack (340 shots)
built-in flash
relatively wide (28mm)
good maximum aperture (f1.8)
no Timelapse recording
more heavy than average (346 grams)
megapixel count low (12MP)
does not feature selfie friendly display
54
good megapixels (20MP)
built-in flash
decently wide (24mm)
very long zoom (1200mm)
doesn't have Time Lapse recording
heavier than competition (623 grams)
doesn't feature selfie friendly display
somewhat slow max aperture (f2.8)
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Landscape Comparison

Olympus XZ-2 iHS Landscape photography features
Sony HX300 Landscape photography features
55
manual focus
relatively wide (28mm)
good maximum aperture (f1.8)
nice screen size (3 inch)
has image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
supports RAW files
better than average battery pack (340 CIPA)
fixed lens (fixed lens mount)
megapixel count low (12 megapixels)
sensor size is tiny (1/1.7")
no Timelapse recording
48
you can focus manually
decently wide (24mm)
screen size is good (3")
built in image stabilization (Optical)
good megapixels (20 megapixels)
cannot change lens (fixed lens mount)
somewhat slow max aperture (f2.8)
small sensor size (1/2.3")
does not have RAW format
doesn't have Time Lapse recording
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Vlogging Comparison

Vlogging with Olympus XZ-2 iHS
Vlogging with Sony HX300
36
relatively wide (28mm)
good maximum aperture (f1.8)
has touchscreen
has image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
features face detect focus
video res high (1920 x 1080 pxls)
has microphone jack
does not feature selfie friendly display
more heavy than average (346 grams)
25
decently wide (24mm)
built in image stabilization (Optical)
high res video (1920 x 1080 pixels)
somewhat slow max aperture (f2.8)
doesn't feature selfie friendly display
doesn't have mic port
heavier than competition (623 grams)
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Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony HX300 Specifications

Detailed spec comparison table for Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Sony HX300
 Olympus XZ-2 iHSSony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300
General Information
Brand Olympus Sony
Model Olympus XZ-2 iHS Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300
Class Small Sensor Compact Small Sensor Superzoom
Introduced 2012-12-18 2013-02-20
Body design Compact SLR-like (bridge)
Sensor Information
Sensor type CMOS BSI-CMOS
Sensor size 1/1.7" 1/2.3"
Sensor dimensions 7.44 x 5.58mm 6.16 x 4.62mm
Sensor surface area 41.5mm² 28.5mm²
Sensor resolution 12MP 20MP
Anti aliasing filter
Aspect ratio 4:3 -
Full resolution 3968 x 2976 5184 x 3888
Max native ISO 12800 12800
Lowest native ISO 100 80
RAW pictures
Autofocusing
Focus manually
Touch focus
Continuous autofocus
Single autofocus
Autofocus tracking
Autofocus selectice
Center weighted autofocus
Autofocus multi area
Live view autofocus
Face detect focus
Contract detect focus
Phase detect focus
Number of focus points 35 9
Lens
Lens mount fixed lens fixed lens
Lens focal range 28-112mm (4.0x) 24-1200mm (50.0x)
Largest aperture f/1.8-2.5 f/2.8-6.3
Macro focus range 1cm -
Crop factor 4.8 5.8
Screen
Range of display Tilting Tilting
Display size 3" 3"
Resolution of display 920 thousand dot 921 thousand dot
Selfie friendly
Liveview
Touch friendly
Viewfinder Information
Viewfinder Electronic (optional) Electronic
Features
Lowest shutter speed 60s 30s
Highest shutter speed 1/2000s 1/4000s
Continuous shooting speed - 10.0 frames/s
Shutter priority
Aperture priority
Manually set exposure
Exposure compensation Yes Yes
Change white balance
Image stabilization
Inbuilt flash
Flash range 8.60 m (ISO 800) -
Flash settings Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Fill-in, Wireless -
External flash
Auto exposure bracketing
White balance bracketing
Exposure
Multisegment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF area
Center weighted
Video features
Video resolutions 1920 x 1080 (30 fps), 1280 x 720 (30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps) 1920 x 1080 (60, 50 fps)
Max video resolution 1920x1080 1920x1080
Video data format MPEG-4, H.264 -
Mic jack
Headphone jack
Connectivity
Wireless Eye-Fi Connected None
Bluetooth
NFC
HDMI
USB USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
GPS None None
Physical
Environment seal
Water proof
Dust proof
Shock proof
Crush proof
Freeze proof
Weight 346 gr (0.76 lb) 623 gr (1.37 lb)
Physical dimensions 113 x 65 x 48mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.9") 130 x 103 x 93mm (5.1" x 4.1" x 3.7")
DXO scores
DXO All around score 49 not tested
DXO Color Depth score 20.4 not tested
DXO Dynamic range score 11.3 not tested
DXO Low light score 216 not tested
Other
Battery life 340 images -
Type of battery Battery Pack -
Battery model Li-90B -
Self timer Yes (2 or 12 sec) -
Time lapse recording
Type of storage SD/SDHC/SDXC -
Storage slots Single Single
Retail pricing $450 $339