Olympus E-M5 vs Samsung HZ30W

Its time to take a more detailed look at the Olympus E-M5 and Samsung HZ30W, former being a Advanced Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Samsung. There is a sizable difference among the sensor resolutions of the E-M5 (16MP) and HZ30W (12MP) and the E-M5 (Four Thirds) and HZ30W (1/2.3") have totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-M5 was manufactured 2 years later than the HZ30W and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera tech is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-M5 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Samsung HZ30W being a Compact camera.

Before getting straight to a thorough comparison, here is a concise highlight of how the E-M5 grades versus the HZ30W for portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Samsung HZ30W. The entire galleries are provided at Olympus E-M5 Gallery & Samsung HZ30W Gallery.

In case you're looking to lug around your camera, you're going to have to factor in its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-M5 has got outer dimensions of 122mm x 89mm x 43mm (4.8" x 3.5" x 1.7") and a weight of 425 grams (0.94 lbs) whilst the Samsung HZ30W has measurements of 107mm x 61mm x 28mm (4.2" x 2.4" x 1.1") and a weight of 245 grams (0.54 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-M5 and Samsung HZ30W in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you have at that moment. Underneath is a front view overall size comparison of the E-M5 and the HZ30W.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the E-M5 and HZ30W is 81 and 91 respectively.

Usually, it can be difficult to envision the gap in sensor measurements just by viewing a spec sheet. The visual here will offer you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-M5 and HZ30W.

As you can see, the two cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-M5 featuring a bigger sensor will make getting shallow DOF less difficult and the Olympus E-M5 will render more detail due to its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also enable you to crop shots more aggressively. The more recent E-M5 is going to have an edge in sensor innovation.