Olympus E-3 vs Panasonic ZS10

Let's take a closer look at the Olympus E-3 and Panasonic ZS10, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There is a sizable difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-3 (10MP) and ZS10 (14MP) and the E-3 (Four Thirds) and ZS10 (1/2.3") offer different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-3 was released 3 years earlier than the ZS10 and that is quite a significant difference as far as tech is concerned. Both cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-3 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic ZS10 being a Compact camera.

Before we go into a in depth comparison, here is a quick summation of how the E-3 matches up against the ZS10 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-3 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-3 Gallery & Panasonic ZS10 Gallery.

For anyone who is planning to lug around your camera often, you'll have to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-3 has got physical measurements of 142mm x 116mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") along with a weight of 890 grams (1.96 lbs) whilst the Panasonic ZS10 has dimensions of 105mm x 58mm x 33mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.3") and a weight of 219 grams (0.48 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-3 and Panasonic ZS10 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you have attached at the time. The following is a front view proportions comparison of the E-3 compared to the ZS10.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the E-3 and ZS10 is 56 and 91 respectively.

In many cases, its tough to picture the contrast between sensor measurements simply by going over technical specs. The photograph below will offer you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-3 and ZS10.

As you can tell, each of the cameras come with different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-3 due to its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field less difficult and the Panasonic ZS10 will offer more detail as a result of its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop photos a good deal more aggressively. The older E-3 is going to be behind when it comes to sensor tech.