Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic ZS40

On this page, we will be looking at the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic ZS40, one being a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Panasonic. There is a significant difference among the sensor resolutions of the E-500 (8MP) and ZS40 (18MP) and the E-500 (Four Thirds) and ZS40 (1/2.3") posses totally different sensor sizes.

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The E-500 was manufactured 9 years before the ZS40 and that is a fairly sizable gap as far as camera tech is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-500 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic ZS40 being a Compact camera.

Before getting straight to a in depth comparison, here is a concise highlight of how the E-500 matches up against the ZS40 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-500 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-500 Gallery and Panasonic ZS40 Gallery.

If you're intending to lug around your camera, you'll need to factor its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-500 has got physical measurements of 130mm x 95mm x 66mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.6") having a weight of 479 grams (1.06 lbs) while the Panasonic ZS40 has dimensions of 111mm x 64mm x 34mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.3") accompanied by a weight of 240 grams (0.53 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-500 and Panasonic ZS40 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you choose during that time. Underneath is a front view sizing comparison of the E-500 and the ZS40.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the E-500 and ZS40 is 70 and 90 respectively.

Generally, its hard to visualise the difference in sensor measurements just by researching specifications. The visual below will help give you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-500 and ZS40.

To sum up, both cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-500 because of its bigger sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field easier and the Panasonic ZS40 will render more detail due to its extra 10 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also make it easier to crop pictures more aggressively. The older E-500 will be behind when it comes to sensor tech.