Olympus 9000 vs Panasonic GF8

Its time to look a bit more closely at the Olympus 9000 versus Panasonic GF8, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a considerable gap between the image resolutions of the 9000 (12MP) and GF8 (16MP) and the 9000 (1/2.3") and GF8 (Four Thirds) posses totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The 9000 was released 7 years earlier than the GF8 which is quite a large difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus 9000 being a Compact camera and the Panasonic GF8 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going straight to a comprehensive comparison, here is a quick summary of how the 9000 matches up against the GF8 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus Stylus 9000 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF8. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus 9000 Gallery & Panasonic GF8 Gallery.

When you are planning to travel with your camera often, you should factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus 9000 enjoys outside measurements of 96mm x 60mm x 31mm (3.8" x 2.4" x 1.2") having a weight of 225 grams (0.50 lbs) whilst the Panasonic GF8 has dimensions of 107mm x 65mm x 33mm (4.2" x 2.6" x 1.3") having a weight of 266 grams (0.59 lbs).

Check the Olympus 9000 versus Panasonic GF8 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 are employing at the time. Following is a front view scale comparison of the 9000 against the GF8.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the 9000 and GF8 is 92 and 90 respectively.

Normally, its difficult to envision the gap between sensor dimensions only by looking at a spec sheet. The pic below might offer you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the 9000 and GF8.

As you can see, both of the cameras have different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The 9000 because of its tinier sensor will make shooting shallow depth of field harder and the Panasonic GF8 will resolve greater detail as a result of its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also help you crop photographs a bit more aggressively. The more aged 9000 is going to be behind in sensor innovation.