Olympus E-300 vs Panasonic FH8

The following is a comprehensive review of the Olympus E-300 vs Panasonic FH8, former is a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a noticeable gap between the resolutions of the E-300 (8MP) and FH8 (16MP) and the E-300 (Four Thirds) and FH8 (1/2.3") provide different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-300 was brought out 8 years prior to the FH8 which is quite a sizable difference as far as technology is concerned. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-300 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FH8 being a Compact camera.

Before going right into a detailed comparison, here is a quick overview of how the E-300 grades against the FH8 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-300 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH8. The entire galleries are provided at Olympus E-300 Gallery & Panasonic FH8 Gallery.

When you are aiming to travel with your camera often, you'll need to factor in its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-300 comes with outside measurements of 147mm x 85mm x 64mm (5.8" x 3.3" x 2.5") and a weight of 624 grams (1.38 lbs) and the Panasonic FH8 has proportions of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") with a weight of 123 grams (0.27 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-300 vs Panasonic FH8 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are using at that moment. Here is a front view measurements comparison of the E-300 compared to the FH8.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-300 and FH8 is 67 and 96 respectively.

Sometimes, it is very difficult to imagine the difference between sensor dimensions purely by looking at a spec sheet. The image underneath should give you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-300 and FH8.

Clearly, each of the cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The E-300 due to its bigger sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field simpler and the Panasonic FH8 will resolve greater detail having its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will let you crop pictures a bit more aggressively. The more aged E-300 is going to be behind in sensor technology.