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Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000

Portability
77
Imaging
44
Features
36
Overall
40
Olympus E-420 front
 
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 front
Portability
55
Imaging
51
Features
80
Overall
62

Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000 Key Specs

Olympus E-420
(Full Review)
  • 10MP - Four Thirds Sensor
  • 2.7" Fixed Screen
  • ISO 100 - 1600
  • No Video
  • Micro Four Thirds Mount
  • 426g - 130 x 91 x 53mm
  • Launched June 2008
  • Succeeded the Olympus E-410
Panasonic FZ1000
(Full Review)
  • 20MP - 1" Sensor
  • 3" Fully Articulated Display
  • ISO 125 - 12800 (Bump to 25600)
  • Optical Image Stabilization
  • 3840 x 2160 video
  • 25-400mm (F2.8-4.0) lens
  • 831g - 137 x 99 x 131mm
  • Revealed June 2014
  • Renewed by Panasonic FZ2500
Photography Glossary

Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000 Overview

Lets take a more detailed look at the Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000, one is a Entry-Level DSLR and the other is a Large Sensor Superzoom by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There is a crucial difference among the image resolutions of the E-420 (10MP) and FZ1000 (20MP) and the E-420 (Four Thirds) and FZ1000 (1") enjoy different sensor dimensions.

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The E-420 was unveiled 7 years before the FZ1000 which is a fairly serious gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-420 being a Compact SLR camera and the Panasonic FZ1000 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before we go in to a step-by-step comparison, below is a quick view of how the E-420 grades vs the FZ1000 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

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Reasons to pick Olympus E-420 over the Panasonic FZ1000

 E-420 FZ1000 

Reasons to pick Panasonic FZ1000 over the Olympus E-420

 FZ1000 E-420 
RevealedJune 2014June 2008Newer by 72 months
Display typeFully ArticulatedFixed Fully Articulating display
Display sizing3"2.7"Larger display (+0.3")
Display resolution921k230kCrisper display (+691k dot)
Selfie screen Easy selfies

Common features in the Olympus E-420 and Panasonic FZ1000

 E-420 FZ1000 
Manually focus Very exact focus
Touch friendly display Neither comes with Touch friendly display

Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000 Physical Comparison

In case you're looking to travel with your camera frequently, you need to factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-420 comes with physical measurements of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") and a weight of 426 grams (0.94 lbs) and the Panasonic FZ1000 has measurements of 137mm x 99mm x 131mm (5.4" x 3.9" x 5.2") along with a weight of 831 grams (1.83 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool. Camera Size Comparison with Lenses

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you are using at that moment. Here is the front view physical size comparison of the E-420 and the FZ1000.

Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000 size comparison

Looking at size and weight, the portability rating of the E-420 and FZ1000 is 77 and 55 respectively.

Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000 top view buttons comparison

Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000 Sensor Comparison

Oftentimes, its difficult to picture the contrast in sensor dimensions only by going through specs. The pic here will give you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-420 and FZ1000.

As you can plainly see, each of these cameras offer different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-420 having a larger sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF easier and the Panasonic FZ1000 will produce extra detail having an extra 10MP. Greater resolution will help you crop pics a little more aggressively. The more aged E-420 will be behind with regard to sensor technology.

Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000 sensor size comparison

Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000 Screen and ViewFinder

Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000 Screen and Viewfinder comparison
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Photography Type Scores

Portrait Comparison

Olympus E-420 as a Portrait photography camera
Panasonic FZ1000 as a Portrait photography camera
56
focusing manually
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
supports RAW formats
low megapixels (10MP)
70
you can focus manually
MP count decent (20 megapixels)
good sensor size (1")
includes face detection focusing
exports RAW formats
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Street Comparison

Street photography with Olympus E-420
Street photography with Panasonic FZ1000
64
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
supports RAW formats
lighter than competitors in class (426 grams)
screen is fixed
lack of image stabilization
70
screen articulates
image stabilization (Optical)
good sensor size (1")
exports RAW formats
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Sports Comparison

Olympus E-420 as a Sports photography camera
Panasonic FZ1000 as a Sports photography camera
38
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
has phase detect autofocus
very slow continuous shooting (4.0 frames/s)
lack of image stabilization
low megapixels (10 megapixels)
not so great battery pack (500 shots)
67
great zoom range (25-400mm 16.0 x zoom)
image stabilization (Optical)
MP count decent (20MP)
good sensor size (1")
includes tracking autofocus
lacks phase detect AF
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Travel Comparison

Olympus E-420 Travel photography details
Panasonic FZ1000 Travel photography details
52
lighter than competitors in class (426g)
built-in flash
doesn't have Time Lapse mode
not so great battery pack (500 per charge)
low megapixels (10 megapixels)
does not have selfie friendly screen
65
MP count decent (20MP)
has built in flash
screen is selfie friendly
reasonably wide (25mm)
long reach (400mm)
slow maximum aperture (f2.8)
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Landscape Comparison

Olympus E-420 Landscape photography details
Panasonic FZ1000 Landscape photography details
47
focusing manually
change lenses (Micro Four Thirds mount)
nice sensor size (Four Thirds)
supports RAW formats
small screen (2.7 inch)
lack of image stabilization
low megapixels (10MP)
not so great battery pack (500 CIPA)
doesn't have Time Lapse mode
64
you can focus manually
reasonably wide (25mm)
decent sized screen (3 inch)
image stabilization (Optical)
MP count decent (20 megapixels)
good sensor size (1")
exports RAW formats
lens is fixed (fixed lens mount)
slow maximum aperture (f2.8)
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Vlogging Comparison

Olympus E-420 Vlogging details
Panasonic FZ1000 Vlogging details
9
lack of video recording
66
reasonably wide (25mm)
screen is selfie friendly
image stabilization (Optical)
includes face detection focusing
video resolution high (3840 x 2160 pxls)
does have external microphone socket
slow maximum aperture (f2.8)
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Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic FZ1000 Specifications

Detailed spec comparison table for Olympus E-420 and Panasonic FZ1000
 Olympus E-420Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000
General Information
Manufacturer Olympus Panasonic
Model type Olympus E-420 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000
Class Entry-Level DSLR Large Sensor Superzoom
Launched 2008-06-23 2014-06-12
Physical type Compact SLR SLR-like (bridge)
Sensor Information
Chip TruePic III Venus Engine
Sensor type CMOS CMOS
Sensor size Four Thirds 1"
Sensor measurements 17.3 x 13mm 13.2 x 8.8mm
Sensor area 224.9mm² 116.2mm²
Sensor resolution 10 megapixel 20 megapixel
Anti alias filter
Aspect ratio 4:3 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9
Highest resolution 3648 x 2736 5472 x 3648
Highest native ISO 1600 12800
Highest boosted ISO - 25600
Lowest native ISO 100 125
RAW images
Lowest boosted ISO - 80
Autofocusing
Focus manually
Autofocus touch
Continuous autofocus
Single autofocus
Tracking autofocus
Selective autofocus
Autofocus center weighted
Autofocus multi area
Autofocus live view
Face detection autofocus
Contract detection autofocus
Phase detection autofocus
Total focus points 3 49
Lens
Lens support Micro Four Thirds fixed lens
Lens zoom range - 25-400mm (16.0x)
Highest aperture - f/2.8-4.0
Macro focusing range - 3cm
Amount of lenses 45 -
Focal length multiplier 2.1 2.7
Screen
Type of screen Fixed Type Fully Articulated
Screen size 2.7" 3"
Screen resolution 230 thousand dots 921 thousand dots
Selfie friendly
Liveview
Touch friendly
Viewfinder Information
Viewfinder Optical (pentamirror) Electronic
Viewfinder resolution - 2,359 thousand dots
Viewfinder coverage 95% 100%
Viewfinder magnification 0.46x 0.7x
Features
Lowest shutter speed 60 seconds 60 seconds
Highest shutter speed 1/4000 seconds 1/4000 seconds
Continuous shooting rate 4.0 frames per second 12.0 frames per second
Shutter priority
Aperture priority
Manual mode
Exposure compensation Yes Yes
Set white balance
Image stabilization
Inbuilt flash
Flash distance 12.00 m (at ISO 100) 13.50 m (at Auto ISO)
Flash options Auto, Auto FP, Manual, Red-Eye Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Forced On/Red-eye Reduction, Slow Sync, Slow Sync/Red-eye Reduction, Forced Off
Hot shoe
AE bracketing
White balance bracketing
Highest flash synchronize 1/180 seconds -
Exposure
Multisegment exposure
Average exposure
Spot exposure
Partial exposure
AF area exposure
Center weighted exposure
Video features
Video resolutions - 3840x2160 (30p), 1920 x 1080 (60p, 60i, 30p, 24p) 1280x720 (30p), 640 x 480 (30p)
Highest video resolution None 3840x2160
Video file format - MPEG-4, AVCHD
Microphone port
Headphone port
Connectivity
Wireless None Built-In
Bluetooth
NFC
HDMI
USB USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
GPS None None
Physical
Environmental sealing
Water proofing
Dust proofing
Shock proofing
Crush proofing
Freeze proofing
Weight 426 gr (0.94 lb) 831 gr (1.83 lb)
Dimensions 130 x 91 x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") 137 x 99 x 131mm (5.4" x 3.9" x 5.2")
DXO scores
DXO All around rating 56 64
DXO Color Depth rating 21.5 22.1
DXO Dynamic range rating 10.4 11.7
DXO Low light rating 527 517
Other
Battery life 500 images 360 images
Type of battery Battery Pack Battery Pack
Battery ID - DMW-BLC12PP
Self timer Yes (2 or 12 sec) Yes
Time lapse feature
Type of storage Compact Flash (Type I or II), xD Picture Card -
Card slots Single Single
Launch cost $999 $800