Olympus E-300 vs Panasonic ZS8

Its time to examine more closely at the Olympus E-300 versus Panasonic ZS8, former is a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a noticeable gap between the resolutions of the E-300 (8MP) and ZS8 (14MP) and the E-300 (Four Thirds) and ZS8 (1/2.3") use different sensor dimensions.

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The E-300 was announced 7 years earlier than the ZS8 which is quite a sizable difference as far as 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 ZS8 being a Compact camera.

Before going in to a step-by-step comparison, below is a simple view of how the E-300 scores versus the ZS8 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-300 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-300 Gallery & Panasonic ZS8 Gallery.

If you are going to travel with your camera regularly, you should take into account its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-300 enjoys external measurements of 147mm x 85mm x 64mm (5.8" x 3.3" x 2.5") and a weight of 624 grams (1.38 lbs) whilst the Panasonic ZS8 has proportions of 105mm x 58mm x 33mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.3") having a weight of 210 grams (0.46 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-300 versus Panasonic ZS8 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you are working with at the time. Below is the front view over all size comparison of the E-300 vs the ZS8.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-300 and ZS8 is 67 and 92 respectively.

Sometimes, it is very hard to picture the gap between sensor dimensions simply by looking at a spec sheet. The picture here will provide you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-300 and ZS8.

As you can see, both of these cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The E-300 using its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field easier and the Panasonic ZS8 will resolve more detail with its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop pics somewhat more aggressively. The more aged E-300 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.