Olympus E-300 vs Panasonic FS12

Its time to look closer at the Olympus E-300 vs Panasonic FS12, former being a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Ultracompact by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. There is a considerable difference between the image resolutions of the E-300 (8MP) and FS12 (12MP) and the E-300 (Four Thirds) and FS12 (1/2.3") have totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The E-300 was unveiled 5 years earlier than the FS12 and that is quite a large difference as far as tech is concerned. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-300 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FS12 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before going straight to a in depth comparison, here is a short summary of how the E-300 grades versus the FS12 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-300 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS12. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-300 Gallery & Panasonic FS12 Gallery.

When you are planning to lug around your camera, you will want to take into account its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-300 comes with physical dimensions of 147mm x 85mm x 64mm (5.8" x 3.3" x 2.5") accompanied by a weight of 624 grams (1.38 lbs) while the Panasonic FS12 has proportions of 97mm x 55mm x 22mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.9") and a weight of 129 grams (0.28 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-300 vs Panasonic FS12 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are utilising at that time. Underneath is a front view dimensions comparison of the E-300 vs the FS12.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability score of the E-300 and FS12 is 67 and 95 respectively.

Often, it is very tough to see the gap between sensor measurements only by reading technical specs. The visual here might offer you a stronger sense of the sensor sizes in the E-300 and FS12.

As you can tell, both cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-300 with its bigger sensor will make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Panasonic FS12 will offer extra detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will enable you to crop shots more aggressively. The older E-300 is going to be behind with regard to sensor tech.