Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic ZS80

Below is a extended analysis of the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic ZS80, one being a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a crucial gap among the image resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and ZS80 (20MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and ZS80 (1/2.3") enjoy totally different sensor size.

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The E-500 was unveiled 13 years before the ZS80 and that is a fairly serious gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic ZS80 being a Compact camera.

Before diving in to a comprehensive comparison, below is a quick view of how the E-500 matches up versus the ZS80 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-500 and Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS80. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-500 Gallery and Panasonic ZS80 Gallery.

For those who are aiming to lug around your camera often, you'll have to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-500 offers exterior dimensions 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 Panasonic ZS80 has measurements of 112mm x 69mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.7" x 1.7") with a weight of 327 grams (0.72 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic ZS80 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 at that time. The following is the front view proportions comparison of the E-500 vs the ZS80.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and ZS80 is 70 and 86 respectively.

More often than not, it's hard to see the contrast in sensor measurements just by researching technical specs. The photograph below might provide you a stronger sense of the sensor sizes in the E-500 and ZS80.

As you have seen, each of these cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-500 having a bigger sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field less difficult and the Panasonic ZS80 will result in greater detail having an extra 12MP. Higher resolution will allow you to crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The older E-500 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.