Olympus E-500 vs Olympus SZ-11

On this page, we will be comparing the Olympus E-500 vs Olympus SZ-11, former is a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both of them are produced by Olympus. There is a large difference among the sensor resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and SZ-11 (14MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and SZ-11 (1/2.3") posses different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-500 was released 6 years earlier than the SZ-11 which is a fairly serious difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus SZ-11 being a Compact camera.

Before diving right into a in depth comparison, here is a concise summary of how the E-500 grades vs the SZ-11 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-500 & Olympus SZ-11. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Olympus SZ-11 Gallery.

If you are aiming to travel with your camera often, you will need to take into account its weight and size. The Olympus E-500 has physical dimensions of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") along with a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) and the Olympus SZ-11 has specifications of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") along with a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-500 vs Olympus SZ-11 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you are employing at the time. Following is a front view measurements comparison of the E-500 versus the SZ-11.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability grade of the E-500 and SZ-11 is 70 and 89 respectively.

Often, its hard to visualize the gap in sensor dimensions simply by seeing specifications. The picture here should give you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-500 and SZ-11.

Plainly, both of those cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The E-500 featuring a bigger sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF easier and the Olympus SZ-11 will show greater detail as a result of its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also make it easier to crop pictures more aggressively. The more aged E-500 will be disadvantaged in sensor technology.