Olympus E-500 vs Olympus SZ-15

Its time to examine more in depth at the Olympus E-500 versus Olympus SZ-15, former is a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both of them are built by Olympus. There is a large difference among the resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and SZ-15 (16MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and SZ-15 (1/2.3") feature different sensor sizes.

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The E-500 was launched 8 years before the SZ-15 which is a fairly serious difference as far as camera tech is concerned. The two cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus SZ-15 being a Compact camera.

Before getting straight into a full comparison, below is a simple summation of how the E-500 grades against the SZ-15 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-500 & Olympus SZ-15. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Olympus SZ-15 Gallery.

In case you're aiming to travel with your camera frequently, you will want to take into account its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-500 provides physical dimensions of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") accompanied by a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) and the Olympus SZ-15 has proportions of 108mm x 70mm x 40mm (4.3" x 2.8" x 1.6") with a weight of 250 grams (0.55 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-500 versus Olympus SZ-15 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you select at the time. Following is the front view physical size comparison of the E-500 and the SZ-15.

Using size and weight, the portability grade of the E-500 and SZ-15 is 70 and 88 respectively.

In many cases, its hard to picture the gap in sensor dimensions only by going through a spec sheet. The image below might provide you a stronger sense of the sensor sizes in the E-500 and SZ-15.

As you can see, both cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The E-500 because of its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF less difficult and the Olympus SZ-15 will produce more detail utilizing its extra 8MP. Greater resolution will enable you to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The more aged E-500 will be behind when it comes to sensor technology.