Olympus E-400 vs Panasonic S2

Below is a comprehensive review of the Olympus E-400 and Panasonic S2, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Compact by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. There is a sizeable difference among the image resolutions of the E-400 (10MP) and S2 (14MP) and the E-400 (Four Thirds) and S2 (1/2.3") offer different sensor sizes.

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The E-400 was released 6 years earlier than the S2 and that is a fairly large gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-400 being a Compact SLR camera and the Panasonic S2 being a Compact camera.

Before delving straight to a more detailed comparison, here is a short synopsis of how the E-400 grades versus the S2 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-400 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-S2. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-400 Gallery and Panasonic S2 Gallery.

If you're aiming to lug around your camera frequently, you will need to factor its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-400 provides outside measurements of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") with a weight of 435 grams (0.96 lbs) and the Panasonic S2 has dimensions of 98mm x 57mm x 21mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 0.8") and a weight of 112 grams (0.25 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-400 and Panasonic S2 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you are utilising at that time. Below is a front view over all size comparison of the E-400 against the S2.

Considering size and weight, the portability grade of the E-400 and S2 is 77 and 96 respectively.

Usually, its difficult to picture the contrast in sensor measurements purely by seeing specifications. The visual below will help give you a greater sense of the sensor measurements in the E-400 and S2.

To sum up, both of the cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-400 because of its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF easier and the Panasonic S2 will show greater detail as a result of its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will let you crop images a bit more aggressively. The older E-400 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor technology.