Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic FZ1000

On this page, we are matching up the Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic FZ1000, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Large Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a sizable gap among the image resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and FZ1000 (20MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and FZ1000 (1") have totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-500 was launched 9 years prior to the FZ1000 and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FZ1000 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before going right into a comprehensive comparison, here is a concise summation of how the E-500 matches up vs the FZ1000 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-500 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Panasonic FZ1000 Gallery.

For those who are planning to lug around your camera frequently, you will have to consider its weight and volume. The Olympus E-500 has got physical 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 Panasonic FZ1000 has sizing of 137mm x 99mm x 131mm (5.4" x 3.9" x 5.2") having a weight of 831 grams (1.83 lbs).

See the Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic FZ1000 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you choose at the time. The following is a front view dimensions comparison of the E-500 and the FZ1000.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-500 and FZ1000 is 70 and 55 respectively.

Normally, it is tough to envision the difference in sensor measurements only by looking through specs. The visual below will help give you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the E-500 and FZ1000.

As you can plainly see, both of these cameras have different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-500 featuring a larger sensor will make shooting shallower depth of field less difficult and the Panasonic FZ1000 will render more detail utilizing its extra 12MP. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop pics a bit more aggressively. The older E-500 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor technology.