Samsung SL820 vs Sony W830

Below is a extended review of the Samsung SL820 and Sony W830, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Ultracompact by rivals Samsung and Sony. There exists a large gap between the image resolutions of the SL820 (12MP) and W830 (20MP) but both cameras provide the same sensor measurements (1/2.3").

Photography Glossary

The SL820 was revealed 5 years before the W830 and that is quite a serious difference as far as technology is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Samsung SL820 being a Compact camera and the Sony W830 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before we go right into a step-by-step comparison, here is a brief introduction of how the SL820 matches up against the W830 for portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Samsung SL820 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W830. The full galleries are available at Samsung SL820 Gallery & Sony W830 Gallery.

For those who are going to lug around your camera regularly, you will need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Samsung SL820 comes with outer dimensions of 95mm x 59mm x 23mm (3.7" x 2.3" x 0.9") having a weight of 168 grams (0.37 lbs) and the Sony W830 has measurements of 93mm x 52mm x 23mm (3.7" x 2.0" x 0.9") having a weight of 122 grams (0.27 lbs).

Analyze the Samsung SL820 and Sony W830 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you are working with at the time. Underneath is a front view over all size comparison of the SL820 versus the W830.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the SL820 and W830 is 94 and 96 respectively.

Normally, it can be difficult to visualise the contrast between sensor measurements simply by looking at technical specs. The photograph below will offer you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the SL820 and W830.

As you can tell, both the cameras have the same sensor dimensions but not the same MP. You can expect to see the Sony W830 to resolve more detail because of its extra 8 Megapixels. Greater resolution will help you crop pics a bit more aggressively. The older SL820 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.