Olympus VH-515 vs Pentax 645Z

Lets look a little more closely at the Olympus VH-515 versus Pentax 645Z, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Pro DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Pentax. There exists a huge gap between the sensor resolutions of the VH-515 (12MP) and 645Z (51MP) and the VH-515 (1/2.3") and 645Z (Medium format) have totally different sensor measurements.

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The VH-515 was manufactured 20 months prior to the 645Z making them a generation apart from one another. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus VH-515 being a Compact camera and the Pentax 645Z being a Large SLR camera.

Before going right into a in-depth comparison, here is a quick summary of how the VH-515 scores against the 645Z in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus VH-515 and Pentax 645Z. The entire galleries are available at Olympus VH-515 Gallery and Pentax 645Z Gallery.

When you are planning to lug around your camera, you're going to have to consider its weight and size. The Olympus VH-515 enjoys external dimensions of 102mm x 60mm x 21mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 0.8") accompanied by a weight of 152 grams (0.34 lbs) whilst the Pentax 645Z has specifications of 156mm x 117mm x 123mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 4.8") accompanied by a weight of 1550 grams (3.42 lbs).

See the Olympus VH-515 versus Pentax 645Z in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you have at the time. Below is a front view sizing comparison of the VH-515 vs the 645Z.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the VH-515 and 645Z is 95 and 49 respectively.

Normally, it is hard to visualise the difference between sensor measurements purely by looking at specifications. The graphic underneath will offer you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the VH-515 and 645Z.

To sum up, both the cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The VH-515 because of its tinier sensor will make getting bokeh trickier and the Pentax 645Z will resolve extra detail due to its extra 39 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop images more aggressively. The older VH-515 is going to be behind with regard to sensor tech.