Olympus SH-50 vs Panasonic FZ2500

Its time to look more closely at the Olympus SH-50 versus Panasonic FZ2500, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Large Sensor Superzoom by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. The image resolution of the SH-50 (16MP) and the FZ2500 (20MP) is very well matched but the SH-50 (1/2.3") and FZ2500 (1") posses totally different sensor size.

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The SH-50 was announced 4 years earlier than the FZ2500 and that is quite a sizable difference as far as tech is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera and the Panasonic FZ2500 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before delving right into a in-depth comparison, here is a quick synopsis of how the SH-50 matches up vs the FZ2500 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus SH-50 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ2500. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus SH-50 Gallery & Panasonic FZ2500 Gallery.

When you are aiming to lug around your camera, you should factor its weight and size. The Olympus SH-50 provides external dimensions of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") and a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs) while the Panasonic FZ2500 has specifications of 138mm x 102mm x 135mm (5.4" x 4.0" x 5.3") accompanied by a weight of 915 grams (2.02 lbs).

Look at the Olympus SH-50 versus Panasonic FZ2500 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you are utilising at that time. The following is a front view size comparison of the SH-50 compared to the FZ2500.

Looking at size and weight, the portability score of the SH-50 and FZ2500 is 88 and 53 respectively.

Usually, its hard to envision the gap between sensor measurements simply by reading through technical specs. The visual below may provide you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the SH-50 and FZ2500.

As you have seen, both of these cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The SH-50 using its tinier sensor will make getting shallow DOF trickier and the Panasonic FZ2500 will give extra detail with its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop images a bit more aggressively. The older SH-50 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.