Olympus E-420 vs Panasonic ZS45

Here is a in depth overview of the Olympus E-420 and Panasonic ZS45, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Panasonic. There is a sizeable difference between the resolutions of the E-420 (10MP) and ZS45 (16MP) and the E-420 (Four Thirds) and ZS45 (1/2.3") posses totally different sensor size.

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The E-420 was introduced 7 years earlier than the ZS45 and that is quite a large gap as far as tech is concerned. Each of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-420 being a Compact SLR camera and the Panasonic ZS45 being a Compact camera.

Before getting right into a full comparison, here is a brief summation of how the E-420 scores vs the ZS45 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-420 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS45. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-420 Gallery and Panasonic ZS45 Gallery.

For those who are intending to carry your camera, you will have to factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-420 comes with external dimensions of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") along with a weight of 426 grams (0.94 lbs) whilst the Panasonic ZS45 has measurements of 108mm x 60mm x 32mm (4.3" x 2.4" x 1.3") having a weight of 249 grams (0.55 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-420 and Panasonic ZS45 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you have attached at the time. Below is a front view dimension comparison of the E-420 and the ZS45.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability grade of the E-420 and ZS45 is 77 and 91 respectively.

Often, its hard to visualise the contrast between sensor sizing just by checking technical specs. The graphic below should provide you a clearer sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-420 and ZS45.

As you have seen, both of those cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E-420 having a bigger sensor will make getting shallow DOF simpler and the Panasonic ZS45 will give you greater detail using its extra 6MP. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop photographs a good deal more aggressively. The older E-420 is going to be behind when it comes to sensor tech.