Olympus E-520 vs Olympus 7030

Following is a extended review of the Olympus E-520 vs Olympus 7030, one is a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and they are both offered by Olympus. There exists a huge gap between the resolutions of the E-520 (10MP) and 7030 (14MP) and the E-520 (Four Thirds) and 7030 (1/2.3") provide totally different sensor dimensions.

Pentax 17 Pre-Orders Outperform Expectations by a Landslide

The E-520 was released 16 months prior to the 7030 which makes them a generation away from one another. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-520 being a Compact SLR camera and the Olympus 7030 being a Compact camera.

Before going into a full comparison, here is a quick highlight of how the E-520 grades against the 7030 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-520 and Olympus Stylus 7030. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-520 Gallery and Olympus 7030 Gallery.

For those who are going to carry around your camera regularly, you're going to have to factor in its weight and size. The Olympus E-520 features external measurements of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") with a weight of 552 grams (1.22 lbs) whilst the Olympus 7030 has specifications of 93mm x 56mm x 26mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 1.0") with a weight of 140 grams (0.31 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-520 vs Olympus 7030 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you are utilising during that time. The following is a front view dimension comparison of the E-520 versus the 7030.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-520 and 7030 is 68 and 95 respectively.

More often than not, its difficult to visualise the difference between sensor sizes only by reviewing technical specs. The pic here might offer you a clearer sense of the sensor sizing in the E-520 and 7030.

As you can tell, the two cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The E-520 because of its bigger sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field simpler and the Olympus 7030 will offer more detail as a result of its extra 4MP. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop photographs a bit more aggressively. The more aged E-520 is going to be behind with regard to sensor technology.