Olympus E-300 vs Panasonic ZS100

Below is a complete review of the Olympus E-300 and Panasonic ZS100, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Large Sensor Compact by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a substantial gap between the sensor resolutions of the E-300 (8MP) and ZS100 (20MP) and the E-300 (Four Thirds) and ZS100 (1") possess different sensor dimensions.

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The E-300 was introduced 12 years before the ZS100 and that is quite a big difference as far as technology is concerned. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-300 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic ZS100 being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before going through a thorough comparison, below is a brief synopsis of how the E-300 grades against the ZS100 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-300 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS100. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-300 Gallery & Panasonic ZS100 Gallery.

For those who are looking to lug around your camera, you are going to need to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus E-300 offers outer dimensions of 147mm x 85mm x 64mm (5.8" x 3.3" x 2.5") along with a weight of 624 grams (1.38 lbs) while the Panasonic ZS100 has sizing of 111mm x 65mm x 44mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.7") and a weight of 312 grams (0.69 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-300 and Panasonic ZS100 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you have chosen at the time. Following is the front view scale comparison of the E-300 vs the ZS100.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-300 and ZS100 is 67 and 87 respectively.

Normally, it is tough to imagine the gap between sensor measurements purely by going over a spec sheet. The photograph below should give you a more clear sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-300 and ZS100.

As you can see, the two cameras enjoy different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-300 having a larger sensor is going to make shooting bokeh easier and the Panasonic ZS100 will offer you more detail using its extra 12MP. Greater resolution will let you crop images far more aggressively. The older E-300 is going to be behind with regard to sensor tech.