Panasonic ZS40 vs Sony ZV-1

Below is a detailed overview of the Panasonic ZS40 versus Sony ZV-1, one being a Small Sensor Superzoom and the latter is a Large Sensor Compact by companies Panasonic and Sony. The sensor resolution of the ZS40 (18MP) and the ZV-1 (20MP) is relatively comparable but the ZS40 (1/2.3") and ZV-1 (1") posses different sensor size.

Mastering Nature Photography with a Digital Microscope Camera

The ZS40 was unveiled 7 years prior to the ZV-1 and that is a fairly serious gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Panasonic ZS40 being a Compact camera and the Sony ZV-1 being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before getting into a in-depth comparison, here is a concise summary of how the ZS40 grades against the ZV-1 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40 and Sony ZV-1. The full galleries are available at Panasonic ZS40 Gallery and Sony ZV-1 Gallery.

When you are planning to lug around your camera frequently, you have to consider its weight and proportions. The Panasonic ZS40 offers external dimensions of 111mm x 64mm x 34mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.3") along with a weight of 240 grams (0.53 lbs) while the Sony ZV-1 has measurements of 105mm x 60mm x 44mm (4.1" x 2.4" x 1.7") and a weight of 294 grams (0.65 lbs).

Take a look at the Panasonic ZS40 versus Sony ZV-1 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you are utilizing at that time. Below is a front view dimensions comparison of the ZS40 compared to the ZV-1.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the ZS40 and ZV-1 is 90 and 88 respectively.

Quite often, it is very hard to picture the contrast in sensor measurements only by going through a spec sheet. The graphic here may provide you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the ZS40 and ZV-1.

As you can see, each of these cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The ZS40 having a smaller sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF trickier and the Sony ZV-1 will produce extra detail having an extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution will let you crop photographs a bit more aggressively. The older ZS40 will be behind when it comes to sensor technology.