Olympus E-510 vs Panasonic ZS20

Below, we are looking at the Olympus E-510 vs Panasonic ZS20, former is a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Panasonic. There is a substantial difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-510 (10MP) and ZS20 (14MP) and the E-510 (Four Thirds) and ZS20 (1/2.3") possess different sensor size.

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The E-510 was manufactured 5 years before the ZS20 which is quite a big difference as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic ZS20 being a Compact camera.

Before we go in to a full comparison, below is a brief overview of how the E-510 matches up against the ZS20 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-510 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-510 Gallery & Panasonic ZS20 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to travel with your camera frequently, you're going to have to factor its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-510 comes with outer dimensions 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 Panasonic ZS20 has proportions of 105mm x 59mm x 28mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.1") with a weight of 206 grams (0.45 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-510 vs Panasonic ZS20 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you have at the time. Underneath is the front view size comparison of the E-510 and the ZS20.

Using size and weight, the portability score of the E-510 and ZS20 is 69 and 92 respectively.

Oftentimes, it's hard to imagine the contrast between sensor dimensions only by reading specs. The picture below will give you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-510 and ZS20.

As you can plainly see, each of these cameras have got different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The E-510 due to its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF simpler and the Panasonic ZS20 will deliver extra detail due to its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop photos much more aggressively. The more aged E-510 is going to be behind when it comes to sensor tech.