Olympus E-300 vs Panasonic ZS40

Its time to look closer at the Olympus E-300 and Panasonic ZS40, one is a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a big gap between the resolutions of the E-300 (8MP) and ZS40 (18MP) and the E-300 (Four Thirds) and ZS40 (1/2.3") offer totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-300 was unveiled 10 years prior to the ZS40 which is quite a big gap 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 ZS40 being a Compact camera.

Before diving straight to a more detailed comparison, here is a simple introduction of how the E-300 matches up vs the ZS40 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-300 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-300 Gallery and Panasonic ZS40 Gallery.

In case you're planning to carry around your camera regularly, you should take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-300 offers outer measurements of 147mm x 85mm x 64mm (5.8" x 3.3" x 2.5") with a weight of 624 grams (1.38 lbs) and the Panasonic ZS40 has dimensions of 111mm x 64mm x 34mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.3") and a weight of 240 grams (0.53 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-300 and Panasonic ZS40 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you are utilising during that time. Here is a front view sizing comparison of the E-300 and the ZS40.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-300 and ZS40 is 67 and 90 respectively.

Typically, it can be tough to envision the difference between sensor sizes purely by reading through technical specs. The pic below should offer you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-300 and ZS40.

As you can tell, the two cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The E-300 having a larger sensor will make shooting shallow depth of field simpler and the Panasonic ZS40 will give you extra detail having an extra 10 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop photos more aggressively. The more aged E-300 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor tech.