Olympus E-500 vs Olympus XZ-10

Its time to take a deeper look at the Olympus E-500 and Olympus XZ-10, one being a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and both of them are manufactured by Olympus. There is a crucial difference among the image resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and XZ-10 (12MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and XZ-10 (1/2.3") come with different sensor sizes.

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The E-500 was introduced 8 years prior to the XZ-10 and that is a fairly serious gap as far as camera tech is concerned. The two cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus XZ-10 being a Compact camera.

Before we go straight into a comprehensive comparison, below is a simple overview of how the E-500 scores against the XZ-10 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-500 and Olympus Stylus XZ-10. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-500 Gallery and Olympus XZ-10 Gallery.

If you are intending to lug around your camera regularly, you have to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-500 offers external 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 XZ-10 has sizing of 102mm x 61mm x 34mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 1.3") accompanied by a weight of 221 grams (0.49 lbs).

See the Olympus E-500 and Olympus XZ-10 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you have at that moment. Below is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-500 compared to the XZ-10.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability rating of the E-500 and XZ-10 is 70 and 91 respectively.

Oftentimes, its hard to picture the difference in sensor measurements just by viewing technical specs. The visual here may offer you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the E-500 and XZ-10.

As you can tell, each of these cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-500 using its bigger sensor is going to make shooting shallower depth of field less difficult and the Olympus XZ-10 will result in extra detail using its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also help you crop pictures far more aggressively. The older E-500 will be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.