Olympus E-300 vs Olympus XZ-2 iHS

Its time to look a bit more closely at the Olympus E-300 versus Olympus XZ-2 iHS, former is a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and they are both produced by Olympus. There is a substantial difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-300 (8MP) and XZ-2 iHS (12MP) and the E-300 (Four Thirds) and XZ-2 iHS (1/1.7") posses totally different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-300 was brought out 9 years prior to the XZ-2 iHS which is quite a big difference as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-300 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus XZ-2 iHS being a Compact camera.

Before going into a in depth comparison, here is a short summary of how the E-300 scores vs the XZ-2 iHS for portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-300 & Olympus XZ-2 iHS. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-300 Gallery & Olympus XZ-2 iHS Gallery.

If you are aiming to carry around your camera, you are going to need to factor its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-300 provides outside dimensions of 147mm x 85mm x 64mm (5.8" x 3.3" x 2.5") having a weight of 624 grams (1.38 lbs) whilst the Olympus XZ-2 iHS has dimensions of 113mm x 65mm x 48mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.9") accompanied by a weight of 346 grams (0.76 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-300 versus Olympus XZ-2 iHS in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you are utilising at that moment. Underneath is a front view measurements comparison of the E-300 compared to the XZ-2 iHS.

Looking at size and weight, the portability grade of the E-300 and XZ-2 iHS is 67 and 85 respectively.

Often, its hard to visualise the contrast between sensor sizes purely by going over specifications. The pic below might give you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-300 and XZ-2 iHS.

To sum up, both of these cameras have different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-300 featuring a bigger sensor will make getting bokeh less difficult and the Olympus XZ-2 iHS will offer you more detail having its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also let you crop shots a bit more aggressively. The more aged E-300 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor tech.