Olympus SH-1 vs Panasonic LF1

The following is a comprehensive analysis of the Olympus SH-1 vs Panasonic LF1, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Small Sensor Compact by brands Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a considerable gap between the sensor resolutions of the SH-1 (16MP) and LF1 (12MP) and the SH-1 (1/2.3") and LF1 (1/1.7") come with different sensor size.

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The SH-1 was introduced 5 months after the LF1 which means that they are of a similar age. Each of these cameras come with the identical body type (Compact).

Before getting straight into a detailed comparison, below is a simple summary of how the SH-1 scores versus the LF1 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus Stylus SH-1 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-LF1. The whole galleries are available at Olympus SH-1 Gallery & Panasonic LF1 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to travel with your camera frequently, you will need to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus SH-1 has external dimensions of 109mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.7") with a weight of 271 grams (0.60 lbs) and the Panasonic LF1 has measurements of 103mm x 62mm x 28mm (4.1" x 2.4" x 1.1") with a weight of 192 grams (0.42 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus SH-1 vs Panasonic LF1 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you use at the time. Here is the front view dimension comparison of the SH-1 compared to the LF1.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the SH-1 and LF1 is 88 and 92 respectively.

More often than not, it is hard to picture the contrast between sensor dimensions just by reading through technical specs. The image here may give you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the SH-1 and LF1.

As you can tell, both the cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The SH-1 having a tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF more difficult and the Olympus SH-1 will give more detail using its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will let you crop images somewhat more aggressively.