Panasonic SZ5 vs Panasonic ZS100

Let's look a little more closely at the Panasonic SZ5 and Panasonic ZS100, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Large Sensor Compact and both of them are produced by Panasonic. There exists a sizeable gap between the resolutions of the SZ5 (14MP) and ZS100 (20MP) and the SZ5 (1/2.3") and ZS100 (1") posses different sensor sizing.

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The SZ5 was manufactured 4 years earlier than the ZS100 and that is quite a large gap as far as technology is concerned. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Panasonic SZ5 being a Compact camera and the Panasonic ZS100 being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before diving into a full comparison, here is a short view of how the SZ5 scores against the ZS100 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ5 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS100. The entire galleries are viewable at Panasonic SZ5 Gallery and Panasonic ZS100 Gallery.

For those who are intending to lug around your camera regularly, you'll need to think about its weight and size. The Panasonic SZ5 enjoys physical measurements of 104mm x 58mm x 21mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 0.8") and a weight of 136 grams (0.30 lbs) whilst the Panasonic ZS100 has specifications of 111mm x 65mm x 44mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 312 grams (0.69 lbs).

Analyze the Panasonic SZ5 and Panasonic ZS100 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you are utilizing at that moment. Following is a front view dimensions comparison of the SZ5 compared to the ZS100.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the SZ5 and ZS100 is 95 and 87 respectively.

Typically, its tough to visualize the contrast between sensor measurements purely by reading through technical specs. The photograph here should offer you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the SZ5 and ZS100.

As you have seen, both of the cameras have different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The SZ5 featuring a tinier sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field tougher and the Panasonic ZS100 will resolve greater detail due to its extra 6MP. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop images a bit more aggressively. The older SZ5 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor tech.