Olympus E-PM2 vs Panasonic FZ60

Its time to take a more detailed look at the Olympus E-PM2 and Panasonic FZ60, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. The sensor resolution of the E-PM2 (16MP) and the FZ60 (16MP) is pretty well matched but the E-PM2 (Four Thirds) and FZ60 (1/2.3") come with totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The E-PM2 was announced 11 months later than the FZ60 which means that they are both of a similar age. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PM2 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic FZ60 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before delving through a thorough comparison, below is a concise view of how the E-PM2 scores vs the FZ60 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PM2 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ60. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-PM2 Gallery & Panasonic FZ60 Gallery.

For anybody who is going to lug around your camera often, you have to factor its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-PM2 comes with exterior measurements of 110mm x 64mm x 34mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.3") and a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs) and the Panasonic FZ60 has dimensions of 120mm x 81mm x 92mm (4.7" x 3.2" x 3.6") and a weight of 493 grams (1.09 lbs).

See the Olympus E-PM2 and Panasonic FZ60 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are using at the time. Here is the front view measurement comparison of the E-PM2 vs the FZ60.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PM2 and FZ60 is 89 and 68 respectively.

Quite often, it's difficult to visualise the difference between sensor measurements just by checking a spec sheet. The photograph here will give you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-PM2 and FZ60.

Clearly, each of the cameras posses the exact same megapixels albeit not the same sensor measurements. The E-PM2 features the bigger sensor which will make achieving shallower DOF simpler. The more modern E-PM2 will have a benefit in sensor tech.