Olympus E-30 vs Panasonic FH1

Its time to look a little more closely at the Olympus E-30 and Panasonic FH1, former is a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. The image resolution of the E-30 (12MP) and the FH1 (12MP) is fairly similar but the E-30 (Four Thirds) and FH1 (1/2.3") possess totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-30 was announced 9 months earlier than the FH1 and they are of a similar age. Each of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-30 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FH1 being a Compact camera.

Before we go through a full comparison, below is a simple view of how the E-30 scores against the FH1 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-30 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH1. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-30 Gallery & Panasonic FH1 Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to travel with your camera frequently, you are going to need to factor in its weight and size. The Olympus E-30 enjoys external measurements of 142mm x 108mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.3" x 3.0") along with a weight of 695 grams (1.53 lbs) whilst the Panasonic FH1 has specifications of 98mm x 55mm x 23mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 163 grams (0.36 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-30 and Panasonic FH1 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you have chosen during that time. Here is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-30 and the FH1.

Using size and weight, the portability score of the E-30 and FH1 is 60 and 95 respectively.

Oftentimes, its hard to see the difference between sensor dimensions purely by reviewing technical specs. The pic underneath will help give you a clearer sense of the sensor sizing in the E-30 and FH1.

As you can tell, both cameras posses the exact same MP but not the same sensor dimensions. The E-30 uses the larger sensor which is going to make obtaining shallower depth of field simpler. The more aged E-30 is going to be behind when it comes to sensor innovation.