Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic SZ5

Lets look more in depth at the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic SZ5, one is a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Compact by brands Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a crucial gap among the resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and SZ5 (14MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and SZ5 (1/2.3") boast different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-500 was announced 7 years prior to the SZ5 which is a fairly serious gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic SZ5 being a Compact camera.

Before we go into a step-by-step comparison, here is a brief highlight of how the E-500 matches up versus the SZ5 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-500 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ5. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-500 Gallery and Panasonic SZ5 Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to carry around your camera frequently, you're going to have to factor in its weight and size. The Olympus E-500 offers physical dimensions of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") accompanied by a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) while the Panasonic SZ5 has specifications of 104mm x 58mm x 21mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 0.8") having a weight of 136 grams (0.30 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic SZ5 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you are utilizing at the time. Below is a front view over all size comparison of the E-500 compared to the SZ5.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-500 and SZ5 is 70 and 95 respectively.

Quite often, its difficult to imagine the difference in sensor sizes just by looking through specifications. The image below should provide you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the E-500 and SZ5.

To sum up, both of those cameras feature different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The E-500 having a larger sensor is going to make shooting shallower DOF less difficult and the Panasonic SZ5 will result in extra detail with its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also allow you to crop photos way more aggressively. The more aged E-500 will be behind when it comes to sensor technology.