Olympus E-3 vs Panasonic FH20

Lets look a little more closely at the Olympus E-3 and Panasonic FH20, former is a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Compact by brands Olympus and Panasonic. There is a noticeable difference between the image resolutions of the E-3 (10MP) and FH20 (14MP) and the E-3 (Four Thirds) and FH20 (1/2.3") feature totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-3 was announced 22 months earlier than the FH20 making the cameras a generation away from each other. Each of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-3 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FH20 being a Compact camera.

Before going straight into a more detailed comparison, below is a concise introduction of how the E-3 scores vs the FH20 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-3 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-3 Gallery & Panasonic FH20 Gallery.

When you are intending to carry around your camera often, you should take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-3 offers outside dimensions of 142mm x 116mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") and a weight of 890 grams (1.96 lbs) whilst the Panasonic FH20 has measurements of 100mm x 56mm x 28mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 1.1") with a weight of 178 grams (0.39 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-3 and Panasonic FH20 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are using at that time. Underneath is the front view measurements comparison of the E-3 against the FH20.

Looking at size and weight, the portability score of the E-3 and FH20 is 56 and 93 respectively.

In many cases, it can be hard to envision the difference between sensor sizes merely by reading through specs. The pic underneath might provide you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the E-3 and FH20.

All in all, both of these cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-3 using its larger sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field less difficult and the Panasonic FH20 will give you more detail with its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will allow you to crop pics much more aggressively. The more aged E-3 is going to be behind in sensor innovation.