Olympus E-510 has a
10.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor . On the other hand, Panasonic GX7 has a
16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine processor.
Panasonic GX7's sensor provides 6MP more than Olympus E-510's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Below you can see the E-510 and GX7 sensor size comparison.
Olympus E-510 and Panasonic GX7 have the same sensor sizes so they will provide same level of control over the depth of field when used with same focal length and aperture. On the other hand, since Olympus E-510 has 58% larger pixel area compared to Panasonic GX7, it has potential to collect more light on pixel level hence have less noise in low light / High ISO images.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Olympus E-510 and Panasonic GX7 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that GX7 has a better overall score of 70, 18 points higher compared to E-510's score of 52.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Olympus E-510 |
52 |
21.2 bits |
10.0 Evs |
442 ISO |
Panasonic GX7 |
70 |
22.6 bits |
12.2 Evs |
718 ISO |