Olympus FE-5050 vs. Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ300

Comparison

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FE-5050 image
vs
Lumix DMC-FZ300 image
Olympus FE-5050 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ300
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Megapixels
14.00
12.10
Max. image resolution
4288 x 3216
4000 x 3000

Sensor

Sensor type
CCD
CMOS
Sensor size
1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)
1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)
Sensor resolution
4315 x 3244
4011 x 3016
Diagonal
7.70 mm
7.70 mm
Sensor size comparison
Sensor size is generally a good indicator of the quality of the camera. Sensors can vary greatly in size. As a general rule, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.

Bigger sensors are more effective because they have more surface area to capture light. An important factor when comparing digital cameras is also camera generation. Generally, newer sensors will outperform the older.

Learn more about sensor sizes »

Actual sensor size

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »
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1 : 1
(ratio)
Olympus FE-5050 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ300
Surface area:
28.46 mm² vs 28.46 mm²
Difference: 0 mm² (0%)
FE-5050 and FZ300 sensors are the same size.
Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 5 year gap between Olympus FE-5050 (2010) and Panasonic FZ300 (2015). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.
Pixel pitch
1.43 µm
1.54 µm
Pixel pitch tells you the distance from the center of one pixel (photosite) to the center of the next. It tells you how close the pixels are to each other.

The bigger the pixel pitch, the further apart they are and the bigger each pixel is. Bigger pixels tend to have better signal to noise ratio and greater dynamic range.
Difference: 0.11 µm (8%)
Pixel pitch of FZ300 is approx. 8% higher than pixel pitch of FE-5050.
Pixel area
2.04 µm²
2.37 µm²
Pixel or photosite area affects how much light per pixel can be gathered. The larger it is the more light can be collected by a single pixel.

Larger pixels have the potential to collect more photons, resulting in greater dynamic range, while smaller pixels provide higher resolutions (more detail) for a given sensor size.
Relative pixel sizes:
vs
Pixel area difference: 0.33 µm² (16%)
A pixel on Panasonic FZ300 sensor is approx. 16% bigger than a pixel on Olympus FE-5050.
Pixel density
49.07 MP/cm²
42.4 MP/cm²
Pixel density tells you how many million pixels fit or would fit in one square cm of the sensor.

Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.
Difference: 6.67 µm (16%)
Olympus FE-5050 has approx. 16% higher pixel density than Panasonic FZ300.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Olympus FE-5050
Panasonic FZ300
Crop factor
5.62
5.62
Total megapixels
14.00
12.80
Effective megapixels
14.00
12.10
Optical zoom
4x
24x
Digital zoom
Yes
Yes
ISO sensitivity
Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
60 cm
30 cm
Macro focus range
7 cm
1 cm
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
26 - 105 mm
25 - 600 mm
Aperture priority
No
Yes
Max. aperture
f2.8 - f6.5
f2.8
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
f15.7 - f36.5
f15.7
Metering
ESP Digital
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Exposure compensation
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
±3 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
No
Yes
Min. shutter speed
4 sec
60 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/2000 sec
1/16000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
None
Electronic
White balance presets
5
5
Screen size
2.7"
3"
Screen resolution
230,000 dots
1,040,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
3840x2160 (30p/24p)
Storage types
SDHC, Secure Digital
SD/SDHC/SDXC
USB
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
BLM-5 Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery
Li-ion Battery Pack
Weight
114 g
691 g
Dimensions
92.0 x 55.0 x 18.8 mm
131.6 x 91.5 x 117.1 mm
Year
2010
2015




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Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
Diagonal =  w² + h²
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Olympus FE-5050 diagonal

The diagonal of FE-5050 sensor is not 1/2.3 or 0.43" (11 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.7 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.16 mm
h = 4.62 mm
Diagonal =  6.16² + 4.62²   = 7.70 mm

Panasonic FZ300 diagonal

The diagonal of FZ300 sensor is not 1/2.3 or 0.43" (11 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.7 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.16 mm
h = 4.62 mm
Diagonal =  6.16² + 4.62²   = 7.70 mm


Surface area

Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.

FE-5050 sensor area

Width = 6.16 mm
Height = 4.62 mm

Surface area = 6.16 × 4.62 = 28.46 mm²

FZ300 sensor area

Width = 6.16 mm
Height = 4.62 mm

Surface area = 6.16 × 4.62 = 28.46 mm²


Pixel pitch

Pixel pitch is the distance from the center of one pixel to the center of the next measured in micrometers (µm). It can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel pitch =   sensor width in mm  × 1000
sensor resolution width in pixels

FE-5050 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4315 pixels
Pixel pitch =   6.16  × 1000  = 1.43 µm
4315

FZ300 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels
Pixel pitch =   6.16  × 1000  = 1.54 µm
4011


Pixel area

The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:
Pixel area = pixel pitch²

You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:
Pixel area =   sensor surface area in mm²
effective megapixels

FE-5050 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.43 µm

Pixel area = 1.43² = 2.04 µm²

FZ300 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.54 µm

Pixel area = 1.54² = 2.37 µm²


Pixel density

Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel density =  ( sensor resolution width in pixels )² / 1000000
sensor width in cm

One could also use this formula:
Pixel density =   effective megapixels × 1000000  / 10000
sensor surface area in mm²

FE-5050 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4315 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4315 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 49.07 MP/cm²

FZ300 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4011 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 42.4 MP/cm²


Sensor resolution

Sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels. It's slightly higher than maximum (not interpolated) image resolution which is usually stated on camera specifications. Sensor resolution is used in pixel pitch, pixel area, and pixel density formula. For sake of simplicity, we're going to calculate it in 3 stages.

1. First we need to find the ratio between horizontal and vertical length by dividing the former with the latter (aspect ratio). It's usually 1.33 (4:3) or 1.5 (3:2), but not always.

2. With the ratio (r) known we can calculate the X from the formula below, where X is a vertical number of pixels:
(X × r) × X = effective megapixels × 1000000    →   
X =  effective megapixels × 1000000
r
3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:

Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X

FE-5050 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 14.00
r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33
X =  14.00 × 1000000  = 3244
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3244 × 1.33 = 4315
Resolution vertical: X = 3244

Sensor resolution = 4315 x 3244

FZ300 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.10
r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33
X =  12.10 × 1000000  = 3016
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3016 × 1.33 = 4011
Resolution vertical: X = 3016

Sensor resolution = 4011 x 3016


Crop factor

Crop factor or focal length multiplier is calculated by dividing the diagonal of 35 mm film (43.27 mm) with the diagonal of the sensor.
Crop factor =   43.27 mm
sensor diagonal in mm


FE-5050 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.70 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 5.62
7.70

FZ300 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.70 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 5.62
7.70

35 mm equivalent aperture

Equivalent aperture (in 135 film terms) is calculated by multiplying lens aperture with crop factor (a.k.a. focal length multiplier).

FE-5050 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f2.8 - f6.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f6.5) × 5.62 = f15.7 - f36.5

FZ300 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f2.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8) × 5.62 = f15.7

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