Olympus PEN-F vs Panasonic ZS20

Here is a comprehensive assessment of the Olympus PEN-F and Panasonic ZS20, one being a Advanced Mirrorless and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There is a crucial difference between the sensor resolutions of the PEN-F (20MP) and ZS20 (14MP) and the PEN-F (Four Thirds) and ZS20 (1/2.3") come with different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The PEN-F was brought out 3 years later than the ZS20 and that is quite a serious gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus PEN-F being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic ZS20 being a Compact camera.

Before delving through a detailed comparison, below is a quick synopsis of how the PEN-F grades versus the ZS20 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

The following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN-F and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus PEN-F Gallery and Panasonic ZS20 Gallery.

When you are aiming to carry your camera regularly, you'll need to think about its weight and measurements. The Olympus PEN-F comes with outside measurements of 125mm x 72mm x 37mm (4.9" x 2.8" x 1.5") having a weight of 427 grams (0.94 lbs) whilst the Panasonic ZS20 has proportions of 105mm x 59mm x 28mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.1") accompanied by a weight of 206 grams (0.45 lbs).

See the Olympus PEN-F and Panasonic ZS20 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you are employing at the time. Below is the front view proportions comparison of the PEN-F vs the ZS20.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the PEN-F and ZS20 is 84 and 92 respectively.

Often, it can be hard to imagine the difference between sensor sizing purely by reading through specifications. The visual here may provide you a greater sense of the sensor sizing in the PEN-F and ZS20.

To sum up, both of those cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The PEN-F featuring a bigger sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF easier and the Olympus PEN-F will resolve more detail having its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop pictures much more aggressively. The more recent PEN-F provides an advantage with regard to sensor technology.