Olympus E-420 vs Olympus SZ-11

Here is a detailed assessment of the Olympus E-420 versus Olympus SZ-11, former being a Entry-Level DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and they are both offered by Olympus. There is a sizable difference between the image resolutions of the E-420 (10MP) and SZ-11 (14MP) and the E-420 (Four Thirds) and SZ-11 (1/2.3") offer different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The E-420 was brought out 4 years before the SZ-11 and that is quite a significant difference as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-420 being a Compact SLR camera and the Olympus SZ-11 being a Compact camera.

Before getting straight to a more detailed comparison, here is a concise highlight of how the E-420 scores versus the SZ-11 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-420 & Olympus SZ-11. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-420 Gallery & Olympus SZ-11 Gallery.

When you are going to carry your camera regularly, you will want to think about its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-420 has got outer dimensions of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") and a weight of 426 grams (0.94 lbs) while the Olympus SZ-11 has measurements of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") accompanied by a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-420 versus Olympus SZ-11 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you have during that time. Underneath is a front view over all size comparison of the E-420 compared to the SZ-11.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the E-420 and SZ-11 is 77 and 89 respectively.

Usually, its hard to imagine the gap between sensor sizing purely by reading through a spec sheet. The visual underneath should offer you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-420 and SZ-11.

As you can see, each of the cameras feature different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The E-420 featuring a bigger sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF less difficult and the Olympus SZ-11 will resolve greater detail having its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop pictures way more aggressively. The older E-420 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.