Olympus E-510 vs Panasonic FP5

Below is a extended assessment of the Olympus E-510 vs Panasonic FP5, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Ultracompact by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There is a noticeable difference among the image resolutions of the E-510 (10MP) and FP5 (14MP) and the E-510 (Four Thirds) and FP5 (1/2.3") posses totally different sensor measurements.

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The E-510 was brought out 4 years prior to the FP5 and that is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera tech is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic FP5 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before going straight to a detailed comparison, here is a concise overview of how the E-510 matches up against the FP5 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-510 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP5. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-510 Gallery & Panasonic FP5 Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to lug around your camera, you will want to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus E-510 provides external dimensions of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") with a weight of 490 grams (1.08 lbs) while the Panasonic FP5 has sizing of 101mm x 59mm x 18mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 0.7") and a weight of 141 grams (0.31 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-510 vs Panasonic FP5 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you are utilizing at that moment. Following is a front view measurement comparison of the E-510 compared to the FP5.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the E-510 and FP5 is 69 and 95 respectively.

Generally, it's difficult to visualise the gap in sensor measurements purely by viewing a spec sheet. The graphic below will help provide you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the E-510 and FP5.

Clearly, each of the cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-510 featuring a larger sensor will make shooting shallow DOF easier and the Panasonic FP5 will provide you with extra detail having its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop photos more aggressively. The older E-510 will be behind in sensor technology.