Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic GX8

Let's look more in depth at the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic GX8, former being a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Advanced Mirrorless by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There is a noticeable difference among the image resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and GX8 (20MP) but both cameras offer the identical sensor size (Four Thirds).

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The E-500 was revealed 10 years prior to the GX8 and that is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic GX8 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going right into a step-by-step comparison, here is a quick view of how the E-500 grades against the GX8 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-500 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Panasonic GX8 Gallery.

If you are intending to lug around your camera often, you will have to factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus E-500 offers outside dimensions 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 GX8 has sizing of 133mm x 78mm x 63mm (5.2" x 3.1" x 2.5") having a weight of 487 grams (1.07 lbs).

See the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic GX8 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you are utilising at that time. Below is a front view dimension comparison of the E-500 and the GX8.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and GX8 is 70 and 74 respectively.

In many cases, its hard to visualise the difference in sensor measurements purely by researching specifications. The graphic here might give you a clearer sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-500 and GX8.

To sum up, both the cameras feature the identical sensor size albeit not the same megapixels. You can expect the Panasonic GX8 to render greater detail because of its extra 12MP. Higher resolution will help you crop pictures way more aggressively. The older E-500 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.