Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic S3

Its time to take a closer look at the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic S3, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Compact by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There is a large difference between the image resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and S3 (14MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and S3 (1/2.3") come with totally different sensor sizes.

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The E-500 was released 6 years prior to the S3 and that is quite a serious difference as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic S3 being a Compact camera.

Before going through a in depth comparison, below is a short summation of how the E-500 scores vs the S3 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-500 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-S3. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Panasonic S3 Gallery.

For anyone who is planning to carry your camera often, you will want to consider its weight and size. The Olympus E-500 enjoys outside measurements of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") along with a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) while the Panasonic S3 has specifications of 99mm x 59mm x 21mm (3.9" x 2.3" x 0.8") along with a weight of 117 grams (0.26 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic S3 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you have chosen during that time. Here is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-500 vs the S3.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability rating of the E-500 and S3 is 70 and 96 respectively.

Oftentimes, it is hard to visualise the difference between sensor sizing only by reading through specs. The visual below might offer you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-500 and S3.

As you can plainly see, both of these cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E-500 due to its larger sensor will make shooting shallower depth of field easier and the Panasonic S3 will resolve greater detail as a result of its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also allow you to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The older E-500 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.