Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony QX30

On this page, we are contrasting the Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony QX30, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Lens-style by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a significant gap between the image resolutions of the XZ-2 iHS (12MP) and QX30 (20MP) and the XZ-2 iHS (1/1.7") and QX30 (1/2.3") boast totally different sensor sizing.

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The XZ-2 iHS was announced 20 months earlier than the QX30 making them a generation apart from one another. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus XZ-2 iHS being a Compact camera and the Sony QX30 being a Lens-style camera.

Before going into a detailed comparison, here is a concise highlight of how the XZ-2 iHS matches up against the QX30 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-QX30. The whole galleries are available at Olympus XZ-2 iHS Gallery and Sony QX30 Gallery.

For anyone who is planning to carry your camera frequently, you will need to think about its weight and volume. The Olympus XZ-2 iHS enjoys outside measurements of 113mm x 65mm x 48mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.9") having a weight of 346 grams (0.76 lbs) while the Sony QX30 has sizing of 68mm x 65mm x 58mm (2.7" x 2.6" x 2.3") accompanied by a weight of 193 grams (0.43 lbs).

Check out the Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony QX30 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you have attached during that time. Following is a front view sizing comparison of the XZ-2 iHS and the QX30.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the XZ-2 iHS and QX30 is 85 and 91 respectively.

More often than not, it is very hard to visualise the gap between sensor sizing just by reviewing a spec sheet. The graphic below will provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the XZ-2 iHS and QX30.

As you can see, the two cameras have different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The XZ-2 iHS having a larger sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field simpler and the Sony QX30 will deliver greater detail with its extra 8 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop pics a bit more aggressively. The older XZ-2 iHS is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.