Olympus E-510 vs Panasonic ZS60

Below is a comprehensive review of the Olympus E-510 vs Panasonic ZS60, one being a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There is a huge difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-510 (10MP) and ZS60 (18MP) and the E-510 (Four Thirds) and ZS60 (1/2.3") possess different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-510 was released 9 years earlier than the ZS60 and that is quite a significant gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Panasonic ZS60 being a Compact camera.

Before going in to a step-by-step comparison, below is a quick synopsis of how the E-510 matches up vs the ZS60 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-510 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS60. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-510 Gallery and Panasonic ZS60 Gallery.

If you are looking to lug around your camera often, you'll have to think about its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-510 features external measurements of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") having a weight of 490 grams (1.08 lbs) whilst the Panasonic ZS60 has measurements of 112mm x 64mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.5") along with a weight of 282 grams (0.62 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-510 vs Panasonic ZS60 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you use at that moment. Underneath is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-510 and the ZS60.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability grade of the E-510 and ZS60 is 69 and 88 respectively.

Often, its difficult to visualize the contrast between sensor measurements simply by reading technical specs. The visual below will help give you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-510 and ZS60.

As you can tell, both of these cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-510 due to its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallow depth of field less difficult and the Panasonic ZS60 will offer extra detail as a result of its extra 8MP. Greater resolution can also let you crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The older E-510 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.