Panasonic LX5 has a
10.0MP 1/1.63-inch (8.07 x 5.56 mm ) sized CCD sensor and features Venus Engine FHD processor. On the other hand, Olympus E-M10 has a
16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features TruePic VII processor.
Olympus E-M10's sensor provides 6MP more than Panasonic LX5'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 LX5 and E-M10 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Panasonic LX5 and Olympus E-M10 Cameras
As seen above, Olympus E-M10 has a 5.0x Larger sensor area than Panasonic LX5. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
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. Panasonic LX5 and Olympus E-M10 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that E-M10 has a better overall score of 72, 31 points higher compared to LX5's score of 41.
Model
Overall
Color Depth
Dynamic Range
Low-light ISO
Panasonic LX5
41
19.6 bits
10.8 Evs
132 ISO
Olympus E-M10
72
22.8 bits
12.3 Evs
884 ISO
Sensor size sets the circle of confusion, so it drives how much depth of field each
of these bodies gives you at a given aperture. You can calculate it exactly for the
Panasonic LX5
or the
Olympus E-M10 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(1/1.63-inch versus Four Thirds),
so compare them at the same framing rather than the same focal length.
Put the same focal length on the smaller sensor and it will show less depth of
field, not more, because it also crops tighter. The calculator shows the
full frame equivalent focal length for each body so you can match the framing.
