Olympus 550WP vs Panasonic FZ80

Its time to take a closer look at the Olympus 550WP versus Panasonic FZ80, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a substantial gap among the sensor resolutions of the 550WP (10MP) and FZ80 (18MP) but they enjoy the same exact sensor size (1/2.3").

Pentax 17 Pre-Orders Outperform Expectations by a Landslide

The 550WP was launched 9 years earlier than the FZ80 and that is a fairly big difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus 550WP being a Compact camera and the Panasonic FZ80 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before getting through a more detailed comparison, below is a brief overview of how the 550WP grades vs the FZ80 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus Stylus 550WP & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ80. The complete galleries are available at Olympus 550WP Gallery & Panasonic FZ80 Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to lug around your camera often, you need to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus 550WP has outer dimensions of 94mm x 62mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 0.9") and a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs) and the Panasonic FZ80 has dimensions of 130mm x 94mm x 119mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 4.7") having a weight of 616 grams (1.36 lbs).

Check the Olympus 550WP versus Panasonic FZ80 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you have at the time. The following is the front view physical size comparison of the 550WP compared to the FZ80.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the 550WP and FZ80 is 94 and 63 respectively.

Sometimes, it can be hard to imagine the gap in sensor measurements purely by checking out specs. The graphic underneath will give you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the 550WP and FZ80.

All in all, both of those cameras offer the same exact sensor sizing albeit different megapixels. You can count on the Panasonic FZ80 to provide greater detail utilizing its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop photographs a little more aggressively. The older 550WP will be behind in sensor innovation.