Olympus E-520 vs Panasonic ZS20

The following is a in-depth assessment of the Olympus E-520 versus Panasonic ZS20, former is a Entry-Level DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a substantial gap among the resolutions of the E-520 (10MP) and ZS20 (14MP) and the E-520 (Four Thirds) and ZS20 (1/2.3") have totally different sensor sizes.

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The E-520 was manufactured 4 years earlier than the ZS20 which is a fairly big difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-520 being a Compact SLR camera and the Panasonic ZS20 being a Compact camera.

Before delving straight to a in depth comparison, here is a short overview of how the E-520 grades versus the ZS20 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-520 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-520 Gallery & Panasonic ZS20 Gallery.

For anybody who is intending to travel with your camera often, you're going to have to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-520 provides outer dimensions of 136mm x 92mm x 68mm (5.4" x 3.6" x 2.7") accompanied by a weight of 552 grams (1.22 lbs) while the Panasonic ZS20 has sizing of 105mm x 59mm x 28mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.1") with a weight of 206 grams (0.45 lbs).

See the Olympus E-520 versus Panasonic ZS20 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you have attached at the time. Below is a front view scale comparison of the E-520 and the ZS20.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-520 and ZS20 is 68 and 92 respectively.

Typically, its difficult to visualise the difference in sensor dimensions only by viewing specifications. The image below may offer you a greater sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-520 and ZS20.

To sum up, both of these cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-520 due to its bigger sensor will make getting shallower depth of field simpler and the Panasonic ZS20 will provide you with more detail due to its extra 4MP. Higher resolution will help you crop shots more aggressively. The more aged E-520 will be disadvantaged in sensor tech.