Olympus E-P1 vs Panasonic ZS35

Let's take a closer look at the Olympus E-P1 and Panasonic ZS35, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a crucial gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-P1 (12MP) and ZS35 (16MP) and the E-P1 (Four Thirds) and ZS35 (1/2.3") possess different sensor measurements.

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The E-P1 was revealed 5 years prior to the ZS35 which is a fairly serious gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-P1 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic ZS35 being a Compact camera.

Before delving straight into a full comparison, below is a brief highlight of how the E-P1 matches up vs the ZS35 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-P1 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS35. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-P1 Gallery and Panasonic ZS35 Gallery.

For those who are going to travel with your camera often, you are going to need to factor its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-P1 provides external dimensions of 121mm x 70mm x 36mm (4.8" x 2.8" x 1.4") along with a weight of 355 grams (0.78 lbs) while the Panasonic ZS35 has dimensions of 107mm x 62mm x 32mm (4.2" x 2.4" x 1.3") accompanied by a weight of 305 grams (0.67 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-P1 and Panasonic ZS35 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you are working with at the time. Below is the front view physical size comparison of the E-P1 against the ZS35.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-P1 and ZS35 is 86 and 89 respectively.

Normally, it's hard to picture the gap in sensor dimensions purely by seeing a spec sheet. The image here might provide you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the E-P1 and ZS35.

As you can see, both of these cameras enjoy different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-P1 having a larger sensor is going to make achieving shallower depth of field easier and the Panasonic ZS35 will produce greater detail because of its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will let you crop pics far more aggressively. The more aged E-P1 will be behind in sensor technology.