Olympus E-330 vs Panasonic FS12

Below is a detailed review of the Olympus E-330 and Panasonic FS12, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Ultracompact by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a sizable gap among the resolutions of the E-330 (7MP) and FS12 (12MP) and the E-330 (Four Thirds) and FS12 (1/2.3") enjoy different sensor dimensions.

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The E-330 was unveiled 4 years before the FS12 and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-330 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FS12 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before diving straight into a more detailed comparison, below is a brief synopsis of how the E-330 matches up against the FS12 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-330 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS12. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-330 Gallery & Panasonic FS12 Gallery.

For anybody who is aiming to lug around your camera regularly, you should think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-330 comes with physical dimensions of 140mm x 87mm x 72mm (5.5" x 3.4" x 2.8") having a weight of 616 grams (1.36 lbs) while the Panasonic FS12 has dimensions of 97mm x 55mm x 22mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.9") with a weight of 129 grams (0.28 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-330 and Panasonic FS12 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you use at that time. Underneath is the front view sizing comparison of the E-330 and the FS12.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-330 and FS12 is 65 and 95 respectively.

More often than not, it is difficult to picture the gap in sensor measurements purely by viewing a spec sheet. The visual here will help give you a greater sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-330 and FS12.

As you can see, both of these cameras have got different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-330 using its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallower DOF easier and the Panasonic FS12 will render more detail having an extra 5 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also help you crop photos much more aggressively. The older E-330 will be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.