Panasonic G3 vs Panasonic ZS5

Lets look a bit more closely at the Panasonic G3 vs Panasonic ZS5, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both of them are manufactured by Panasonic. There exists a large gap between the resolutions of the G3 (16MP) and ZS5 (12MP) and the G3 (Four Thirds) and ZS5 (1/2.3") possess totally different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The G3 was introduced 13 months later than the ZS5 which makes the cameras a generation apart from one another. The two cameras come with different body type with the Panasonic G3 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic ZS5 being a Compact camera.

Before diving through a comprehensive comparison, below is a short summary of how the G3 scores versus the ZS5 for portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5. The whole galleries are provided at Panasonic G3 Gallery & Panasonic ZS5 Gallery.

For those who are looking to lug around your camera, you need to factor its weight and dimensions. The Panasonic G3 features external dimensions of 115mm x 84mm x 47mm (4.5" x 3.3" x 1.9") along with a weight of 336 grams (0.74 lbs) and the Panasonic ZS5 has dimensions of 103mm x 60mm x 32mm (4.1" x 2.4" x 1.3") along with a weight of 214 grams (0.47 lbs).

Contrast the Panasonic G3 vs Panasonic ZS5 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are utilising at that moment. Following is the front view dimension comparison of the G3 compared to the ZS5.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the G3 and ZS5 is 83 and 92 respectively.

Typically, it's hard to see the difference between sensor measurements purely by reading a spec sheet. The visual here will help provide you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the G3 and ZS5.

As you can see, both of those cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The G3 using its bigger sensor will make getting shallow DOF easier and the Panasonic G3 will offer you more detail using its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also help you crop photographs somewhat more aggressively. The newer G3 is going to have a benefit when it comes to sensor technology.