Olympus FE-4030 vs Panasonic FZ1000

Below is a in-depth overview of the Olympus FE-4030 vs Panasonic FZ1000, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Large Sensor Superzoom by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There is a crucial difference among the image resolutions of the FE-4030 (14MP) and FZ1000 (20MP) and the FE-4030 (1/2.3") and FZ1000 (1") enjoy totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The FE-4030 was unveiled 5 years before the FZ1000 and that is a fairly serious gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus FE-4030 being a Compact camera and the Panasonic FZ1000 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before diving in to a step-by-step comparison, below is a quick summary of how the FE-4030 scores vs the FZ1000 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus FE-4030 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000. The full galleries are available at Olympus FE-4030 Gallery and Panasonic FZ1000 Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to lug around your camera, you need to factor its weight and dimensions. The Olympus FE-4030 has got outside measurements of 93mm x 56mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") with a weight of 146 grams (0.32 lbs) and the Panasonic FZ1000 has dimensions of 137mm x 99mm x 131mm (5.4" x 3.9" x 5.2") having a weight of 831 grams (1.83 lbs).

Examine the Olympus FE-4030 vs Panasonic FZ1000 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you use during that time. Following is the front view dimension comparison of the FE-4030 and the FZ1000.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability grade of the FE-4030 and FZ1000 is 95 and 55 respectively.

In many cases, its difficult to see the contrast in sensor measurements simply by researching specifications. The graphic here might offer you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the FE-4030 and FZ1000.

To sum up, both the cameras enjoy different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The FE-4030 using its smaller sensor will make achieving shallower DOF trickier and the Panasonic FZ1000 will provide you with greater detail having an extra 6MP. Higher resolution can also make it easier to crop pictures far more aggressively. The older FE-4030 will be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.