Compared to...

Studio scene comparison (vs. Olympus C-8080 WZ)

This is our standard studio scene comparison shot taken from exactly the same tripod position within minutes of each other. Lighting: 2 x 800W studio lights with dichroic daylight filters bounced off a white ceiling reflector. All crops are 100%. Ambient temperature was approximately 22°C (~72°F). Camera settings:

• Olympus E-300: Olympus ED 50 mm F2.0 Macro, Aperture Priority (F6.3),
  ISO 100, JPEG SHQ, Manual WB, Default Parameters, Self-Timer
   
• Olympus C-8080 WZ: 100 mm equiv. zoom, Aperture Priority (F5),
  ISO 50, JPEG SHQ, Manual WB, Default Parameters, Self-Timer

Olympus E-300	Olympus C-8080 WZ
ISO 100, 1/2 sec, F6.3	ISO 50, 1/2 sec, F5
5,420 KB JPEG (3264 x 2448)	3,849 KB JPEG (3264 x 2448)

Note that in this comparison there is no longer any vertical resolution advantage for the E-300 because the C-8080 has the same 4:3 aspect ratio and in fact the exact same output image size.

What an interesting comparison, the C-8080 with its eight megapixel 8.8 x 6.6 mm CCD and 5x zoom lens versus the E-300 with its eight megapixel 17.3 x 13 mm CCD and a quality prime lens.

Which did better? If we're only going to talk about detail and sharpness then I'd have to hand it to the C-8080 which performed extremely well, delivering marginally more detail and in fact having slightly more accurate color (reds). Obviously there's the sensitivity advantage, the C-8080 shot was taken at ISO 50 and the E-300 will perform much better (lower noise) than the C-8080 at higher sensitivities.