Olympus E-30 vs Panasonic FH8

Below is a in-depth analysis of the Olympus E-30 vs Panasonic FH8, one being a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Compact by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. There is a sizeable difference among the sensor resolutions of the E-30 (12MP) and FH8 (16MP) and the E-30 (Four Thirds) and FH8 (1/2.3") boast totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-30 was manufactured 3 years prior to the FH8 and that is a fairly large gap as far as camera 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 FH8 being a Compact camera.

Before going into a detailed comparison, here is a concise summary of how the E-30 scores vs the FH8 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-30 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH8. The entire galleries are provided at Olympus E-30 Gallery and Panasonic FH8 Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to lug around your camera regularly, you will want to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-30 enjoys outside dimensions of 142mm x 108mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.3" x 3.0") with a weight of 695 grams (1.53 lbs) and the Panasonic FH8 has measurements of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") accompanied by a weight of 123 grams (0.27 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-30 vs Panasonic FH8 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you have chosen at the time. Underneath is a front view overall size comparison of the E-30 compared to the FH8.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability grade of the E-30 and FH8 is 60 and 96 respectively.

Usually, its hard to visualise the difference in sensor measurements only by going through a spec sheet. The visual underneath may provide you a greater sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-30 and FH8.

As you can see, each of the cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-30 because of its larger sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field easier and the Panasonic FH8 will provide extra detail due to its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop pics a good deal more aggressively. The older E-30 will be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.