Olympus E-300 vs Panasonic FZ40

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Olympus E-300 versus Panasonic FZ40, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a considerable gap among the resolutions of the E-300 (8MP) and FZ40 (14MP) and the E-300 (Four Thirds) and FZ40 (1/2.3") use different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The E-300 was unveiled 6 years prior to the FZ40 and that is a fairly large difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-300 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FZ40 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before going through a full comparison, below is a quick overview of how the E-300 scores against the FZ40 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

The following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-300 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-300 Gallery & Panasonic FZ40 Gallery.

For anybody who is going to carry your camera, you'll need to consider its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-300 has got external dimensions of 147mm x 85mm x 64mm (5.8" x 3.3" x 2.5") and a weight of 624 grams (1.38 lbs) while the Panasonic FZ40 has dimensions of 120mm x 80mm x 92mm (4.7" x 3.1" x 3.6") accompanied by a weight of 494 grams (1.09 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-300 versus Panasonic FZ40 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are using at the time. Here is the front view scale comparison of the E-300 against the FZ40.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-300 and FZ40 is 67 and 68 respectively.

Quite often, its tough to imagine the contrast in sensor sizing only by researching technical specs. The photograph below should offer you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-300 and FZ40.

As you have seen, the 2 cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The E-300 having a larger sensor is going to make shooting shallower DOF simpler and the Panasonic FZ40 will provide you with more detail having an extra 6MP. Greater resolution will also enable you to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The older E-300 will be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.