Olympus E-330 vs Panasonic SZ5

Let's look more in depth at the Olympus E-330 vs Panasonic SZ5, one being a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. There is a sizeable difference among the resolutions of the E-330 (7MP) and SZ5 (14MP) and the E-330 (Four Thirds) and SZ5 (1/2.3") offer totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-330 was unveiled 7 years prior to the SZ5 and that is a fairly large gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-330 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic SZ5 being a Compact camera.

Before going into a step-by-step comparison, here is a quick view of how the E-330 matches up versus the SZ5 for portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-330 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ5. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-330 Gallery and Panasonic SZ5 Gallery.

For anybody who is aiming to carry your camera often, you will need to consider its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-330 comes with outside dimensions of 140mm x 87mm x 72mm (5.5" x 3.4" x 2.8") and a weight of 616 grams (1.36 lbs) whilst the Panasonic SZ5 has dimensions of 104mm x 58mm x 21mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 0.8") and a weight of 136 grams (0.30 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-330 vs Panasonic SZ5 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you select at the time. The following is a front view scale comparison of the E-330 and the SZ5.

Using size and weight, the portability grade of the E-330 and SZ5 is 65 and 95 respectively.

In many cases, its tough to envision the gap in sensor sizing only by seeing specifications. The graphic here may provide you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-330 and SZ5.

To sum up, both of these cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E-330 having a bigger sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field simpler and the Panasonic SZ5 will show more detail having an extra 7MP. Higher resolution will let you crop shots more aggressively. The older E-330 will be behind in sensor technology.