Olympus E-1 vs Panasonic FP1

Below is a complete comparison of the Olympus E-1 and Panasonic FP1, one being a Pro DSLR and the other is a Ultracompact by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There is a big difference among the resolutions of the E-1 (5MP) and FP1 (12MP) and the E-1 (Four Thirds) and FP1 (1/2.3") have different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-1 was announced 7 years earlier than the FP1 and that is a fairly big gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-1 being a Large SLR camera and the Panasonic FP1 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before we go into a in depth comparison, here is a simple view of how the E-1 scores vs the FP1 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-1 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP1. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-1 Gallery and Panasonic FP1 Gallery.

For those who are planning to lug around your camera frequently, you will want to factor its weight and size. The Olympus E-1 has got outside dimensions of 141mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.2") having a weight of 735 grams (1.62 lbs) while the Panasonic FP1 has specifications of 99mm x 59mm x 19mm (3.9" x 2.3" x 0.7") and a weight of 151 grams (0.33 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-1 and Panasonic FP1 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you have at the time. The following is a front view scale comparison of the E-1 against the FP1.

Looking at size and weight, the portability score of the E-1 and FP1 is 59 and 95 respectively.

In many cases, it is hard to picture the difference in sensor measurements purely by looking through specs. The visual below may provide you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-1 and FP1.

All in all, both the cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-1 with its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field easier and the Panasonic FP1 will result in more detail with its extra 7MP. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop images a bit more aggressively. The older E-1 will be behind in sensor tech.