Olympus E-30 vs Panasonic FZ80

On this page, we are comparing the Olympus E-30 vs Panasonic FZ80, one being a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There is a significant difference among the resolutions of the E-30 (12MP) and FZ80 (18MP) and the E-30 (Four Thirds) and FZ80 (1/2.3") offer different sensor dimensions.

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The E-30 was manufactured 8 years before the FZ80 and that is a fairly sizable gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-30 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FZ80 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before diving straight to a detailed comparison, here is a quick summation of how the E-30 grades vs the FZ80 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-30 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ80. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-30 Gallery and Panasonic FZ80 Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to carry your camera frequently, you will want to think about its weight and volume. The Olympus E-30 provides external 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 FZ80 has sizing of 130mm x 94mm x 119mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 4.7") with a weight of 616 grams (1.36 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-30 vs Panasonic FZ80 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you have attached at the time. The following is a front view scale comparison of the E-30 and the FZ80.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the E-30 and FZ80 is 60 and 63 respectively.

In many cases, its tough to visualize the gap in sensor sizing purely by viewing technical specs. The visual below will provide you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-30 and FZ80.

As you have seen, the 2 cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E-30 because of its larger sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field simpler and the Panasonic FZ80 will render extra detail due to its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also let you crop photos a bit more aggressively. The older E-30 will be behind with regard to sensor tech.