Olympus E-30 vs Panasonic ZS25

Its time to look a little more closely at the Olympus E-30 and Panasonic ZS25, one being a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There is a big difference between the image resolutions of the E-30 (12MP) and ZS25 (16MP) and the E-30 (Four Thirds) and ZS25 (1/2.3") use different sensor measurements.

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The E-30 was brought out 4 years before the ZS25 and that is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-30 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic ZS25 being a Compact camera.

Before going in to a more detailed comparison, below is a quick highlight of how the E-30 matches up versus the ZS25 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-30 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS25. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-30 Gallery and Panasonic ZS25 Gallery.

If you are planning to lug around your camera, you'll need to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-30 comes with external dimensions of 142mm x 108mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.3" x 3.0") and a weight of 695 grams (1.53 lbs) while the Panasonic ZS25 has dimensions of 105mm x 59mm x 28mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.1") accompanied by a weight of 193 grams (0.43 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-30 and Panasonic ZS25 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you have chosen at that time. Here is the front view scale comparison of the E-30 compared to the ZS25.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the E-30 and ZS25 is 60 and 93 respectively.

Generally, it is very difficult to imagine the difference between sensor measurements just by reviewing specs. The graphic underneath may give you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-30 and ZS25.

As you can plainly see, both of those cameras enjoy different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-30 because of its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallower DOF simpler and the Panasonic ZS25 will deliver more detail having its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will also help you crop pics far more aggressively. The older E-30 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.