Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic SZ10

Its time to take a closer look at the Olympus E-420 and Panasonic SZ10, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a crucial gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-420 (10MP) and SZ10 (16MP) and the E-420 (Four Thirds) and SZ10 (1/2.3") posses different sensor dimensions.

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The E-420 was introduced 7 years earlier than the SZ10 and that is a fairly serious gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-420 being a Compact SLR camera and the Panasonic SZ10 being a Compact camera.

Before diving right into a thorough comparison, here is a simple summation of how the E-420 matches up versus the SZ10 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-420 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-420 Gallery and Panasonic SZ10 Gallery.

When you are planning to carry your camera frequently, you're going to have to consider its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-420 has got exterior measurements of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") having a weight of 426 grams (0.94 lbs) while the Panasonic SZ10 has proportions of 99mm x 60mm x 30mm (3.9" x 2.4" x 1.2") with a weight of 177 grams (0.39 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-420 and Panasonic SZ10 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you are utilizing at that moment. Here is a front view sizing comparison of the E-420 and the SZ10.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-420 and SZ10 is 77 and 93 respectively.

More often than not, its difficult to visualize the contrast in sensor sizing purely by viewing specs. The visual below will offer you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-420 and SZ10.

All in all, both of the cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E-420 using its bigger sensor is going to make shooting shallow depth of field simpler and the Panasonic SZ10 will provide you with greater detail using its extra 6MP. Higher resolution can also help you crop photographs a bit more aggressively. The older E-420 will be behind in sensor tech.