Olympus E-3 vs Panasonic FP5

Below is a complete analysis of the Olympus E-3 vs Panasonic FP5, one being a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Ultracompact by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a crucial gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-3 (10MP) and FP5 (14MP) and the E-3 (Four Thirds) and FP5 (1/2.3") feature different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-3 was unveiled 3 years before the FP5 and that is a fairly serious gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-3 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FP5 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before we go in to a step-by-step comparison, below is a simple highlight of how the E-3 scores against the FP5 for portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-3 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP5. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-3 Gallery and Panasonic FP5 Gallery.

For anybody who is aiming to lug around your camera frequently, you'll need to think about its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-3 features physical measurements 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 FP5 has proportions of 101mm x 59mm x 18mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 0.7") having a weight of 141 grams (0.31 lbs).

See the Olympus E-3 vs Panasonic FP5 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you are utilising at that moment. Here is the front view physical size comparison of the E-3 and the FP5.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-3 and FP5 is 56 and 95 respectively.

Typically, it is difficult to visualize the contrast in sensor measurements purely by looking through specs. The graphic here will offer you a greater sense of the sensor measurements in the E-3 and FP5.

As you can plainly see, the two cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-3 having a bigger sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF simpler and the Panasonic FP5 will render extra detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will let you crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The older E-3 will be disadvantaged in sensor tech.