Olympus E-P5 vs Panasonic ZS80

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Olympus E-P5 and Panasonic ZS80, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Panasonic. The resolution of the E-P5 (16MP) and the ZS80 (20MP) is fairly comparable but the E-P5 (Four Thirds) and ZS80 (1/2.3") have totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The E-P5 was revealed 5 years before the ZS80 and that is a fairly serious difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-P5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic ZS80 being a Compact camera.

Before we go straight to a complete comparison, here is a simple view of how the E-P5 matches up against the ZS80 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-P5 & Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS80. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-P5 Gallery & Panasonic ZS80 Gallery.

If you are intending to lug around your camera regularly, you will need to factor its weight and size. The Olympus E-P5 comes with outer measurements of 122mm x 69mm x 37mm (4.8" x 2.7" x 1.5") with a weight of 420 grams (0.93 lbs) while the Panasonic ZS80 has specifications of 112mm x 69mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.7" x 1.7") along with a weight of 327 grams (0.72 lbs).

See the Olympus E-P5 and Panasonic ZS80 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you select at the time. The following is a front view measurement comparison of the E-P5 compared to the ZS80.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-P5 and ZS80 is 85 and 86 respectively.

Normally, it can be tough to see the gap in sensor measurements only by checking out technical specs. The visual here should provide you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the E-P5 and ZS80.

As you can tell, both cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-P5 using its larger sensor will make achieving shallow DOF less difficult and the Panasonic ZS80 will show extra detail because of its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also enable you to crop images more aggressively. The older E-P5 will be behind in sensor tech.