Olympus E-510 vs Olympus Tough-3000

Lets look a bit more closely at the Olympus E-510 and Olympus Tough-3000, former being a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Waterproof and both are manufactured by Olympus. The resolution of the E-510 (10MP) and the Tough-3000 (12MP) is relatively well matched but the E-510 (Four Thirds) and Tough-3000 (1/2.3") have totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-510 was released 3 years before the Tough-3000 and that is quite a big difference as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus Tough-3000 being a Compact camera.

Before diving into a full comparison, here is a brief overview of how the E-510 grades versus the Tough-3000 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-510 & Olympus Stylus Tough-3000. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-510 Gallery & Olympus Tough-3000 Gallery.

For those who are looking to lug around your camera often, you'll have to think about its weight and volume. The Olympus E-510 features exterior measurements of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") and a weight of 490 grams (1.08 lbs) while the Olympus Tough-3000 has sizing of 96mm x 65mm x 23mm (3.8" x 2.6" x 0.9") and a weight of 159 grams (0.35 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-510 and Olympus Tough-3000 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you have attached at the time. Below is a front view dimensions comparison of the E-510 vs the Tough-3000.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the E-510 and Tough-3000 is 69 and 94 respectively.

Usually, it's tough to envision the gap between sensor measurements purely by looking at technical specs. The graphic below should give you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the E-510 and Tough-3000.

As you have seen, each of these cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-510 due to its bigger sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field easier and the Olympus Tough-3000 will give greater detail as a result of its extra 2MP. Higher resolution will also let you crop shots more aggressively. The older E-510 is going to be behind in sensor tech.