Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs.
In this section, We are going to illustrate Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Sony A7S has external dimensions of 127 x 94 x 48 mm (5 x 3.7 x 1.89″) and weighs 489 g (1.08 lb / 17.25 oz) (including batteries). Panasonic SZ8 has external dimensions of 100 x 60 x 27 mm (3.94 x 2.36 x 1.06″) and weighs 159 g (0.35 lb / 5.61 oz) (including batteries).
Below you can see the front view size comparison of Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8. Panasonic SZ8 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 27mm narrower, 34mm shorter and 21mm thinner than Sony A7S. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Panasonic SZ8 has a built-in lens but Sony A7S doesn't. Once you put a lens on A7S, its thickness will increase significantly.
![Sony A7S vs Panasonic SZ8 Camera Size Comparison - Front View]()
Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View
Here is the back view size comparison of Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8.
![Sony A7S vs Panasonic SZ8 Camera Size Comparison - Back View]()
Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8 Size and Weight - Back View
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8.
![Sony A7S vs Panasonic SZ8 Camera Size Comparison - Top View]()
Top View Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8 Size
Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Panasonic SZ8 is significantly lighter (330g ) than the Sony A7S which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.
Again, this comparison may not be very useful in real life as we are comparing the weight of a camera with a built-in lens to the body-only weight of an interchangeable lens camera. Once you put a lens on A7S, the total kit will weigh much higher.
Weather Sealing
With its weather sealed body, we believe that A7S has a big advantage over SZ8 which doesn't provide any kind of environmental sealing.
LCD Screen Size and Features
Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3.
On the other hand, Sony A7S features a
Tilting screen where you can change the angle of the screen to make it easier to shoot from waist or over the head levels whereas the Panasonic SZ8 has a fixed type screen which provides less flexibility in shooting positions compared to A7S.
Sony A7S has a 12.0MP Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor. On the other hand, Panasonic SZ8 has a 16.0MP 1/2.3" (6.08 x 4.56 mm ) sized CCD sensor and features Venus Engine processor.
Below you can see the A7S and SZ8 sensor size comparison.
![Sony A7S vs Panasonic SZ8 Sensor Size Comparison]()
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8 Cameras
As seen above, Sony A7S has a 30.9x Larger sensor area than Panasonic SZ8. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
In this section, we rank and compare Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.
Sony A7S for Portrait Photography
Panasonic SZ8 for Portrait Photography
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
Small 1/2.33" (6.08 x 4.56 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Sony A7S for Street Photography
Panasonic SZ8 for Street Photography
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Small Body
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
24 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/2.33" (6.08 x 4.56 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
Read the details
Sony A7S for Sports Photography
Panasonic SZ8 for Sports Photography
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
25 Focus Points
Good Low Light ISO
Wireless Connection
Average Continuous Shooting: 5.0fps
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Wireless Connection
288 mm Tele Lens
Average Max shutter speed: 1/2000s
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Slow Continuous Shooting: 1.0fps
Environmental Sealings
9 Focus Points
Poor Battery Life: 200 shots
Slow Lens at Tele: f6.30
Read the details
Sony A7S for Daily Photography
Panasonic SZ8 for Daily Photography
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Medium size Body
489g
Body Thickness 48mm
Read the details
Compact Body
159g
12.0X Optical Zoom
Small 1/2.33" (6.08 x 4.56 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
Read the details
Sony A7S for Landscape Photography
Panasonic SZ8 for Landscape Photography
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Read the details
24 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
Small 1/2.33" (6.08 x 4.56 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8, below you can find their scores in five different aspects.
Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.
Here is a summary of how Sony A7S and Panasonic SZ8 scores compare:
Sony A7S
Ranked
#38 out of 85 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#70 out of 1218 in all Cameras
Panasonic SZ8
Ranked
#280 out of 475 in Compact cameras
Ranked
#897 out of 1218 in all Cameras
Sony A7S is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Panasonic SZ8 in all criteria except one: Portability. Panasonic SZ8 is significantly smaller than Sony A7S. If small size and light body is a big priority for you, choose Panasonic SZ8. Otherwise, Sony A7S is the better camera overall.
| General |
Sony Alpha A7S |
Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ8 |
| Brand |
Sony |
Panasonic |
| Announced |
2014-04-06 |
2014-01-06 |
| Body Type |
SLR-style mirrorless |
Compact |
Sensor |
|
|
| Type |
CMOS |
CCD |
| Size |
Full frame |
1/2.3" |
| Dimensions |
35.8 x 23.9 mm |
6.08 x 4.56 mm |
| Area |
855.62mm2 |
27.72mm2 |
| Megapixels |
12 megapixels |
16 megapixels |
| Max Resolution |
4240 x 2832 |
4608 x 3456 |
| Max Native Light sensitivity |
409,600 ISO |
1,600 ISO |
| Max Boosted Light Sensitivity |
- |
6400 ISO |
| Min Native Light sensitivity |
100 ISO |
100 ISO |
| RAW Support |
|
|
Autofocus |
|
|
| AF Touch |
|
|
| AF Continuous |
|
|
| AF Single |
|
|
| AF Tracking |
|
|
| AF Selective |
|
|
| AF Center |
|
|
| AF Multi Area |
|
|
| AF Live View |
|
|
| AF Face Detection |
|
|
| AF Contrast Detection |
|
|
| AF Phase Detection |
|
|
| Number of Focus Points |
25 |
9 |
Lens |
|
|
| Manual Focus |
|
|
| Lens Mount |
Sony E |
fixed lens |
| Lens Focal Range |
no lens |
24-288 mm (12×) |
| Max Aperture |
no lens |
F3.1-6.3 |
Screen |
|
|
| Type |
Tilting |
Fixed type |
| Size |
3 |
3" |
| Resolution |
1,230k dots |
460k dots |
| Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
| Viewfinder |
Electronic |
None |
| Viewfinder Resolution |
2,359k dots |
no electronic viewfinder |
| Viewfinder Coverage |
100% |
n/a |
| Viewfinder Magnification |
0.71x |
n/a |
Photography Features |
|
|
| Max Mechanical Shutter |
1/8000s |
1/2000s |
| Shutter Priority |
|
|
| Aperture Priority |
|
|
| Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
| Custom White Balance |
|
|
| Image Stabilization |
No |
Optical |
| Built-in Flash |
|
|
| Flash Range |
no built-in flash |
5.20 m |
| External Flash |
|
|
| Continuous Shooting |
5.0 fps |
1.0 fps |
| Multi-Segment |
|
|
| Average |
|
|
| Spot |
|
|
| Partial |
|
|
| AF-Area |
|
|
| Center Weighted |
|
|
| AE Bracketing |
|
|
| WB Bracketing |
|
|
Video Features |
|
|
| Max Video Resolution |
3840 x 2160 |
1280 x 720 |
| Video Formats |
MPEG-4, AVCHD, XAVC |
Motion JPEG |
| Microphone Port |
|
|
| Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
| Wireless Connectivity |
Built-In |
Built-In |
| HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
| Environmental Sealing |
|
|
| Weight |
489g |
159g |
| Dimensions |
127 x 94 x 48mm |
100 x 60 x 27mm |
| Battery Life |
360 shots |
200 shots |
Other Features |
|
|
| Timelapse Recording |
With Downloadable App |
|
| GPS |
None |
None |
DxO Sensor Scores |
|
|
| DxO Overall Score |
87 |
not tested |
| DxO Color Depth |
23.9 |
not tested |
| DxO Dynamic Range |
13.2 |
not tested |
| DxO Low Light ISO |
3702 |
not tested |
|
Report a correction |
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