Olympus SH-50 vs Panasonic GH2

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Olympus SH-50 vs Panasonic GH2, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Advanced Mirrorless by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. The resolution of the SH-50 (16MP) and the GH2 (16MP) is fairly close but the SH-50 (1/2.3") and GH2 (Four Thirds) possess different sensor sizes.

Pentax 17 Pre-Orders Outperform Expectations by a Landslide

The SH-50 was unveiled 22 months later than the GH2 making the cameras a generation apart from each other. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera and the Panasonic GH2 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting straight into a step-by-step comparison, below is a brief view of how the SH-50 scores vs the GH2 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus SH-50 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2. The full galleries are available at Olympus SH-50 Gallery & Panasonic GH2 Gallery.

When you are aiming to lug around your camera, you'll have to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus SH-50 enjoys physical measurements of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") having a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs) whilst the Panasonic GH2 has measurements of 124mm x 90mm x 76mm (4.9" x 3.5" x 3.0") along with a weight of 442 grams (0.97 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus SH-50 vs Panasonic GH2 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you use at that time. The following is the front view scale comparison of the SH-50 and the GH2.

Considering size and weight, the portability score of the SH-50 and GH2 is 88 and 70 respectively.

Often, it's tough to imagine the difference in sensor measurements purely by looking through a spec sheet. The graphic here will give you a clearer sense of the sensor sizing in the SH-50 and GH2.

As you can see, both of the cameras posses the exact same MP but different sensor measurements. The SH-50 provides the smaller sensor which should make achieving shallow depth of field trickier. The more modern SH-50 should have a benefit when it comes to sensor tech.