Olympus E-510 vs Panasonic LZ40

Following is a thorough overview of the Olympus E-510 versus Panasonic LZ40, former is a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a large gap between the image resolutions of the E-510 (10MP) and LZ40 (20MP) and the E-510 (Four Thirds) and LZ40 (1/2.3") enjoy totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-510 was released 7 years before the LZ40 which is quite a serious difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic LZ40 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before getting through a detailed comparison, below is a quick highlight of how the E-510 grades versus the LZ40 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-510 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ40. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-510 Gallery & Panasonic LZ40 Gallery.

If you're looking to carry around your camera frequently, you should take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-510 enjoys physical dimensions of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") accompanied by a weight of 490 grams (1.08 lbs) while the Panasonic LZ40 has sizing of 126mm x 87mm x 94mm (5.0" x 3.4" x 3.7") along with a weight of 524 grams (1.16 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-510 versus Panasonic LZ40 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you have chosen at that time. Below is the front view physical size comparison of the E-510 compared to the LZ40.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-510 and LZ40 is 69 and 67 respectively.

More often than not, it's hard to see the gap between sensor sizes purely by reading a spec sheet. The image here should offer you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-510 and LZ40.

As you can see, both of those cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-510 featuring a bigger sensor will make getting shallower depth of field simpler and the Panasonic LZ40 will offer greater detail as a result of its extra 10MP. Higher resolution will make it easier to crop shots a little more aggressively. The more aged E-510 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor technology.