Panasonic FS42 vs Panasonic FZ80

The following is a detailed review of the Panasonic FS42 and Panasonic FZ80, one is a Ultracompact and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both of them are produced by Panasonic. There exists a big gap among the image resolutions of the FS42 (10MP) and FZ80 (18MP) and the FS42 (1/2.5") and FZ80 (1/2.3") boast different sensor sizing.

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The FS42 was unveiled 8 years before the FZ80 which is a fairly big gap as far as camera technology is concerned. The two cameras feature different body design with the Panasonic FS42 being a Ultracompact camera and the Panasonic FZ80 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera.

Before going straight to a more detailed comparison, here is a concise summation of how the FS42 matches up versus the FZ80 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS42 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ80. The full galleries are viewable at Panasonic FS42 Gallery and Panasonic FZ80 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to travel with your camera regularly, you have to think about its weight and size. The Panasonic FS42 has got physical measurements of 98mm x 55mm x 22mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 132 grams (0.29 lbs) while the Panasonic FZ80 has specifications of 130mm x 94mm x 119mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 4.7") with a weight of 616 grams (1.36 lbs).

Look at the Panasonic FS42 and Panasonic FZ80 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you are using at the time. Below is a front view scale comparison of the FS42 versus the FZ80.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the FS42 and FZ80 is 95 and 63 respectively.

More often than not, its tough to visualize the gap in sensor dimensions purely by viewing a spec sheet. The pic here may give you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the FS42 and FZ80.

Clearly, both of these cameras feature different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The FS42 using its smaller sensor is going to make shooting shallow depth of field more difficult and the Panasonic FZ80 will provide you with more detail having an extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop photographs way more aggressively. The more aged FS42 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.