Olympus XZ-1 vs Panasonic FX90

Let's look a little more in depth at the Olympus XZ-1 versus Panasonic FX90, both Small Sensor Compact cameras by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. The image resolution of the XZ-1 (10MP) and the FX90 (12MP) is fairly close but the XZ-1 (1/1.63") and FX90 (1/2.3") enjoy totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The XZ-1 was unveiled 7 months earlier than the FX90 which means that they are both of a similar generation. Both the cameras offer the identical body type (Compact).

Before getting through a more detailed comparison, below is a short summary of how the XZ-1 grades versus the FX90 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus XZ-1 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX90. The full galleries are provided at Olympus XZ-1 Gallery and Panasonic FX90 Gallery.

For those who are going to lug around your camera often, you need to factor in its weight and size. The Olympus XZ-1 features outer dimensions of 111mm x 65mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.7") with a weight of 275 grams (0.61 lbs) while the Panasonic FX90 has specifications of 102mm x 56mm x 22mm (4.0" x 2.2" x 0.9") with a weight of 149 grams (0.33 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus XZ-1 versus Panasonic FX90 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you have chosen at the time. Following is the front view sizing comparison of the XZ-1 vs the FX90.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the XZ-1 and FX90 is 88 and 95 respectively.

Typically, it is very hard to see the gap in sensor measurements purely by viewing specs. The graphic below should provide you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the XZ-1 and FX90.

As you can plainly see, both of the cameras offer different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The XZ-1 having a larger sensor will make shooting shallow DOF simpler and the Panasonic FX90 will result in more detail having an extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop photos a little more aggressively. The older XZ-1 will be disadvantaged in sensor tech.