What is the crop factor of the Olympus E-1?

The Olympus E-1 is equipped with a Four Thirds sensor, whose diagonal measures 21.6mm. The sensor has a crop factor (or format factor, or focal length multiplier) of 2.0.

The crop factor is defined as the ratio of the 35mm full-frame film diagonal to the diagonal of a digital sensor. This number indicates how a lens behaves in relation to the size of the image sensor.

Sensor size comparison with a film slide

With a crop factor of 2.0, the sensor in the Olympus E-1 is smaller than the receptor area of a 35mm film slide or negative. As a result, a lens that is attached to the Olympus E-1 will offer a narrower angle of view and provide deeper depth of field than a lens of similar focal length and aperture on a film camera. The equivalent focal length is obtained by multiplying the actual focal length of the lens with the crop factor. For example, a 25mm lens on the Olympus E-1 will provide the same angle of view and depth of field as a 50mm normal lens on a film camera (25mm * 2.0 = 50mm).

Sensor specs and performance

The table below compares the sensor specs of the Olympus E-1 to those of several similar cameras. The reported DXO values are indicators of the sensor's imaging quality (higher is better), covering color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape), and high-ISO noise (DXO Sports). Larger sensor cameras tend to outperform cameras of the same generation that are equipped with a smaller imager. On the other hand, larger sensors are more expensive and require bigger and heavier lenses than smaller light receptors.

Sensor Characteristics

		Camera Model	Sensor Class	Resolution (MP)	Horiz. Pixels	Vert. Pixels	Video Format	DXO Portrait	DXO Landscape	DXO Sports	DXO Overall
1.		Olympus E-1	Four Thirds	4.9	2560	1920	none	20.0	9.7	-145	44
2.		Canon 6D Mark II	Full Frame	26.0	6240	4160	1080/60p	24.4	11.9	2862	85
3.		Canon 7D	APS-C	17.9	5184	3456	1080/30p	22.0	11.7	854	66
4.		Leica Digilux 3	Four Thirds	7.4	3136	2352	none	21.0	10.6	127	53
5.		Nikon D500	APS-C	20.7	5568	3712	4K/30p	24.0	14.0	1324	83
6.		Nikon D610	Full Frame	24.2	6016	4016	1080/30p	25.1	14.4	2925	94
7.		Nikon D7000	APS-C	16.1	4928	3264	1080/24p	23.5	13.9	1167	80
8.		Olympus E-3	Four Thirds	10.0	3648	2736	none	21.6	10.5	571	56
9.		Olympus E-5	Four Thirds	12.2	4032	3024	720/30p	21.6	10.5	519	56
10.		Olympus E-300	Four Thirds	8.0	3264	2448	none	20.4	10.1	-40	48
11.		Olympus E-330	Four Thirds	7.4	3136	2352	none	20.8	10.4	73	52
Note: DXO values in italics represent estimates based on sensor size and age.

In the United States, the E-1 was initially launched in June 2003 at a price of $1,699.

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Camera to camera comparisons

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