Panasonic ZS30 vs Sony A850

Its time to look more closely at the Panasonic ZS30 and Sony A850, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by rivals Panasonic and Sony. There exists a sizable gap among the sensor resolutions of the ZS30 (18MP) and A850 (25MP) and the ZS30 (1/2.3") and A850 (Full frame) provide totally different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The ZS30 was manufactured 2 years after the A850 which is a fairly significant difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Panasonic ZS30 being a Compact camera and the Sony A850 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before going into a in depth comparison, here is a brief summary of how the ZS30 scores against the A850 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS30 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A850. The entire galleries are viewable at Panasonic ZS30 Gallery & Sony A850 Gallery.

For those who are aiming to travel with your camera frequently, you will have to take into account its weight and proportions. The Panasonic ZS30 features external dimensions of 105mm x 59mm x 28mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.1") along with a weight of 198 grams (0.44 lbs) whilst the Sony A850 has measurements of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") along with a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs).

Compare the Panasonic ZS30 and Sony A850 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you are using during that time. The following is a front view dimension comparison of the ZS30 compared to the A850.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the ZS30 and A850 is 92 and 54 respectively.

Typically, it is hard to visualise the gap in sensor dimensions purely by going through specs. The pic underneath might give you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the ZS30 and A850.

As you can plainly see, each of these cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The ZS30 featuring a smaller sensor will make getting shallow DOF tougher and the Sony A850 will provide greater detail due to its extra 7MP. Higher resolution will enable you to crop photographs a bit more aggressively. The more modern ZS30 is going to have an advantage in sensor technology.