Olympus E-500 vs Olympus SZ-12

In this article, we will be comparing the Olympus E-500 vs Olympus SZ-12, former being a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both are designed by Olympus. There exists a large gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and SZ-12 (14MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and SZ-12 (1/2.3") come with totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-500 was announced 7 years earlier than the SZ-12 and that is a fairly serious difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus SZ-12 being a Compact camera.

Before delving through a in depth comparison, below is a concise overview of how the E-500 grades vs the SZ-12 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-500 & Olympus SZ-12. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Olympus SZ-12 Gallery.

In case you're aiming to carry your camera regularly, you will want to take into account its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-500 has got external measurements of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") with a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) while the Olympus SZ-12 has proportions of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") having a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-500 vs Olympus SZ-12 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are employing at that moment. The following is the front view sizing comparison of the E-500 and the SZ-12.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-500 and SZ-12 is 70 and 89 respectively.

More often than not, it is very difficult to visualise the difference in sensor sizing just by going through specifications. The visual underneath will help provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-500 and SZ-12.

Plainly, the 2 cameras offer different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The E-500 with its bigger sensor will make getting shallow depth of field simpler and the Olympus SZ-12 will show more detail with its extra 6MP. Higher resolution will make it easier to crop pictures a little more aggressively. The older E-500 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.