Olympus E-600 vs Pentax RZ18

Below is a complete analysis of the Olympus E-600 and Pentax RZ18, former being a Entry-Level DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by competitors Olympus and Pentax. There exists a large gap among the resolutions of the E-600 (12MP) and RZ18 (16MP) and the E-600 (Four Thirds) and RZ18 (1/2.3") come with different sensor measurements.

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The E-600 was brought out 24 months earlier than the RZ18 making the cameras a generation apart from one another. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-600 being a Compact SLR camera and the Pentax RZ18 being a Compact camera.

Before going through a thorough comparison, below is a short overview of how the E-600 matches up versus the RZ18 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-600 & Pentax Optio RZ18. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-600 Gallery & Pentax RZ18 Gallery.

When you are looking to lug around your camera regularly, you'll need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-600 enjoys outer measurements of 130mm x 94mm x 60mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 2.4") with a weight of 515 grams (1.14 lbs) and the Pentax RZ18 has measurements of 97mm x 61mm x 33mm (3.8" x 2.4" x 1.3") with a weight of 178 grams (0.39 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-600 and Pentax RZ18 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you select at that moment. Underneath is the front view over all size comparison of the E-600 vs the RZ18.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-600 and RZ18 is 71 and 92 respectively.

Sometimes, it can be hard to imagine the difference in sensor measurements merely by seeing a spec sheet. The graphic underneath should give you a more clear sense of the sensor sizing in the E-600 and RZ18.

As you can see, both cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-600 due to its larger sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field less difficult and the Pentax RZ18 will show extra detail having its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop pics much more aggressively. The older E-600 will be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.