Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic ZR1

Let's look much closer at the Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic ZR1, former being a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a sizable gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and ZR1 (12MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and ZR1 (1/2.3") possess different sensor size.

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The E-500 was unveiled 4 years earlier than the ZR1 and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera technology is concerned. The two cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic ZR1 being a Compact camera.

Before we go in to a full comparison, below is a quick summary of how the E-500 matches up versus the ZR1 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-500 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-500 Gallery & Panasonic ZR1 Gallery.

In case you're aiming to lug around your camera frequently, you are going to need to factor in its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-500 comes with exterior 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 ZR1 has measurements of 98mm x 55mm x 26mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 1.0") having a weight of 158 grams (0.35 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic ZR1 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you choose at that moment. Below is the front view size comparison of the E-500 against the ZR1.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and ZR1 is 70 and 94 respectively.

Quite often, it's tough to visualize the difference in sensor measurements just by seeing a spec sheet. The photograph below might give you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the E-500 and ZR1.

As you can see, both of these cameras have got different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-500 using its bigger sensor is going to make shooting shallower depth of field easier and the Panasonic ZR1 will produce extra detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also let you crop photographs much more aggressively. The older E-500 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.