Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic FX90

Its time to take a more detailed look at the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic FX90, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There is a large difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and FX90 (12MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and FX90 (1/2.3") boast different sensor measurements.

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The E-500 was released 6 years earlier than the FX90 and that is quite a serious difference as far as tech is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FX90 being a Compact camera.

Before diving right into a in depth comparison, here is a simple summation of how the E-500 grades against the FX90 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-500 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX90. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Panasonic FX90 Gallery.

For anybody who is intending to carry your camera, you should take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-500 has got outer measurements of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") with a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) and the Panasonic FX90 has dimensions of 102mm x 56mm x 22mm (4.0" x 2.2" x 0.9") along with a weight of 149 grams (0.33 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic FX90 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you have attached at the time. The following is a front view sizing comparison of the E-500 against the FX90.

Looking at size and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and FX90 is 70 and 95 respectively.

Oftentimes, it can be difficult to visualize the difference between sensor sizing just by checking specs. The graphic here might provide you a more clear sense of the sensor sizing in the E-500 and FX90.

As you can plainly see, both of those cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E-500 due to its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallow depth of field simpler and the Panasonic FX90 will give greater detail as a result of its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will allow you to crop pics a bit more aggressively. The older E-500 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.