Olympus E-520 vs Panasonic FS15

Below is a detailed overview of the Olympus E-520 vs Panasonic FS15, former being a Entry-Level DSLR while the latter is a Ultracompact by brands Olympus and Panasonic. The sensor resolution of the E-520 (10MP) and the FS15 (12MP) is pretty close but the E-520 (Four Thirds) and FS15 (1/2.3") offer different sensor sizes.

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The E-520 was manufactured 4 months earlier than the FS15 which means that they are both of a similar age. Both of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-520 being a Compact SLR camera and the Panasonic FS15 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before getting into a in depth comparison, here is a simple overview of how the E-520 scores versus the FS15 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus E-520 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS15. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-520 Gallery & Panasonic FS15 Gallery.

When you are aiming to lug around your camera regularly, you need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-520 comes with outer dimensions of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") and a weight of 552 grams (1.22 lbs) and the Panasonic FS15 has measurements of 97mm x 54mm x 22mm (3.8" x 2.1" x 0.9") having a weight of 136 grams (0.30 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-520 vs Panasonic FS15 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you use during that time. The following is a front view scale comparison of the E-520 against the FS15.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-520 and FS15 is 68 and 95 respectively.

Quite often, its difficult to visualize the contrast in sensor measurements only by looking through specs. The photograph below should give you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-520 and FS15.

As you can plainly see, the two cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-520 due to its bigger sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF less difficult and the Panasonic FS15 will render greater detail due to its extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution will allow you to crop shots more aggressively.