Olympus PEN-F vs Panasonic ZS30

Let's take a more detailed look at the Olympus PEN-F vs Panasonic ZS30, former being a Advanced Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Panasonic. The image resolution of the PEN-F (20MP) and the ZS30 (18MP) is relatively close but the PEN-F (Four Thirds) and ZS30 (1/2.3") posses totally different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The PEN-F was launched 3 years later than the ZS30 and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus PEN-F being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic ZS30 being a Compact camera.

Before we go right into a thorough comparison, here is a simple summary of how the PEN-F matches up vs the ZS30 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

This is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN-F & Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS30. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus PEN-F Gallery & Panasonic ZS30 Gallery.

For those who are planning to carry your camera, you'll have to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus PEN-F comes with outside dimensions of 125mm x 72mm x 37mm (4.9" x 2.8" x 1.5") along with a weight of 427 grams (0.94 lbs) and the Panasonic ZS30 has measurements of 105mm x 59mm x 28mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.1") accompanied by a weight of 198 grams (0.44 lbs).

See the Olympus PEN-F vs Panasonic ZS30 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you select at the time. The following is a front view size comparison of the PEN-F and the ZS30.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the PEN-F and ZS30 is 84 and 92 respectively.

In many cases, it can be difficult to visualise the gap in sensor sizing merely by viewing technical specs. The visual here might give you a clearer sense of the sensor dimensions in the PEN-F and ZS30.

As you can tell, both the cameras have different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The PEN-F because of its bigger sensor will make shooting shallower depth of field simpler and the Olympus PEN-F will render more detail utilizing its extra 2MP. Higher resolution can also allow you to crop photographs a bit more aggressively. The fresher PEN-F will have a benefit when it comes to sensor technology.