Olympus E-510 vs Pentax I-10

The following is a comprehensive analysis of the Olympus E-510 versus Pentax I-10, former is a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Compact by competitors Olympus and Pentax. The resolution of the E-510 (10MP) and the I-10 (12MP) is fairly well matched but the E-510 (Four Thirds) and I-10 (1/2.3") use different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The E-510 was unveiled 3 years before the I-10 which is quite a big difference as far as tech is concerned. Both cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-510 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Pentax I-10 being a Compact camera.

Before delving straight into a in-depth comparison, below is a short highlight of how the E-510 matches up versus the I-10 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-510 & Pentax Optio I-10. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-510 Gallery & Pentax I-10 Gallery.

If you are looking to travel with your camera regularly, you'll need to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-510 offers 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) whilst the Pentax I-10 has dimensions of 101mm x 65mm x 28mm (4.0" x 2.6" x 1.1") along with a weight of 153 grams (0.34 lbs).

See the Olympus E-510 versus Pentax I-10 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you have at that time. Below is the front view dimension comparison of the E-510 vs the I-10.

Considering size and weight, the portability score of the E-510 and I-10 is 69 and 93 respectively.

In many cases, it can be difficult to picture the gap between sensor dimensions merely by reading through specs. The image underneath will offer you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-510 and I-10.

As you can plainly see, both of those cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-510 having a larger sensor is going to make getting shallower DOF less difficult and the Pentax I-10 will give you more detail having an extra 2MP. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop pics somewhat more aggressively. The more aged E-510 is going to be behind in sensor technology.