Olympus FE-4030 vs Pentax ist DS2

Following is a in depth overview of the Olympus FE-4030 vs Pentax ist DS2, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Advanced DSLR by companies Olympus and Pentax. There exists a huge gap between the resolutions of the FE-4030 (14MP) and ist DS2 (6MP) and the FE-4030 (1/2.3") and ist DS2 (APS-C) posses totally different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The FE-4030 was brought out 4 years after the ist DS2 which is quite a significant gap as far as technology is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus FE-4030 being a Compact camera and the Pentax ist DS2 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before going right into a thorough comparison, here is a concise overview of how the FE-4030 matches up versus the ist DS2 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus FE-4030 and Pentax ist DS2. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus FE-4030 Gallery and Pentax ist DS2 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to carry around your camera often, you should factor in its weight and volume. The Olympus FE-4030 offers exterior dimensions of 93mm x 56mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") along with a weight of 146 grams (0.32 lbs) and the Pentax ist DS2 has sizing of 125mm x 93mm x 66mm (4.9" x 3.7" x 2.6") and a weight of 605 grams (1.33 lbs).

Check the Olympus FE-4030 vs Pentax ist DS2 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you are using at the time. Here is a front view measurement comparison of the FE-4030 compared to the ist DS2.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the FE-4030 and ist DS2 is 95 and 68 respectively.

Typically, it can be difficult to see the gap between sensor sizes just by looking at specifications. The image here should provide you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the FE-4030 and ist DS2.

Plainly, both cameras have different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The FE-4030 featuring a tinier sensor will make getting shallower DOF trickier and the Olympus FE-4030 will give more detail having its extra 8 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop pics a bit more aggressively. The more recent FE-4030 will have an edge with regard to sensor innovation.