Olympus E-30 vs Panasonic FH7

Lets look much closer at the Olympus E-30 vs Panasonic FH7, one is a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There is a huge difference between the image resolutions of the E-30 (12MP) and FH7 (16MP) and the E-30 (Four Thirds) and FH7 (1/2.3") provide different sensor dimensions.

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The E-30 was revealed 3 years before the FH7 which is quite a significant gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-30 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FH7 being a Compact camera.

Before diving right into a step-by-step comparison, here is a quick summary of how the E-30 matches up versus the FH7 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-30 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH7. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-30 Gallery and Panasonic FH7 Gallery.

If you're going to carry around your camera regularly, you'll need to take into account its weight and size. The Olympus E-30 features exterior dimensions of 142mm x 108mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.3" x 3.0") having a weight of 695 grams (1.53 lbs) and the Panasonic FH7 has specifications of 95mm x 56mm x 19mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.7") with a weight of 126 grams (0.28 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-30 vs Panasonic FH7 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you have attached during that time. Here is a front view scale comparison of the E-30 and the FH7.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability score of the E-30 and FH7 is 60 and 96 respectively.

Often, it's tough to visualize the gap between sensor sizes purely by reviewing technical specs. The pic below should offer you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-30 and FH7.

As you can tell, both the cameras feature different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The E-30 using its bigger sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Panasonic FH7 will offer more detail because of its extra 4MP. Higher resolution can also let you crop photographs way more aggressively. The more aged E-30 is going to be behind in sensor tech.