Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic S5

Let's look a little more closely at the Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Panasonic S5, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Pro Mirrorless by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There is a big difference between the resolutions of the XZ-2 iHS (12MP) and S5 (24MP) and the XZ-2 iHS (1/1.7") and S5 (Full frame) use different sensor size.

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The XZ-2 iHS was unveiled 8 years prior to the S5 which is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus XZ-2 iHS being a Compact camera and the Panasonic S5 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting straight into a thorough comparison, below is a brief introduction of how the XZ-2 iHS scores vs the S5 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Panasonic Lumix DC-S5. The full galleries are provided at Olympus XZ-2 iHS Gallery and Panasonic S5 Gallery.

If you're aiming to travel with your camera frequently, you will need to think about its weight and proportions. The Olympus XZ-2 iHS provides exterior measurements of 113mm x 65mm x 48mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.9") accompanied by a weight of 346 grams (0.76 lbs) whilst the Panasonic S5 has measurements of 133mm x 97mm x 82mm (5.2" x 3.8" x 3.2") with a weight of 714 grams (1.57 lbs).

See the Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Panasonic S5 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you select during that time. Here is the front view scale comparison of the XZ-2 iHS compared to the S5.

Looking at size and weight, the portability score of the XZ-2 iHS and S5 is 85 and 60 respectively.

In many cases, it can be hard to visualize the contrast between sensor dimensions just by looking at technical specs. The picture underneath might give you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the XZ-2 iHS and S5.

As you can tell, each of the cameras have got different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The XZ-2 iHS with its tinier sensor is going to make shooting bokeh harder and the Panasonic S5 will resolve extra detail having an extra 12 Megapixels. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop pics much more aggressively. The more aged XZ-2 iHS is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.