What is the crop factor of the Olympus E-510?

The Olympus E-510 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-510 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-510 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-510 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-510 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-510	Four Thirds	10.0	3648	2736	none	21.2	10.0	442	52
2.		Olympus E-30	Four Thirds	12.2	4032	3024	none	21.3	10.4	530	55
3.		Olympus E-400	Four Thirds	10.0	3648	2736	none	21.0	10.6	127	53
4.		Olympus E-410	Four Thirds	10.0	3648	2736	none	21.1	10.0	494	51
5.		Olympus E-500	Four Thirds	8.0	3264	2448	none	20.7	10.3	45	51
6.		Olympus E-520	Four Thirds	10.0	3648	2736	none	21.4	10.4	548	55
7.		Olympus E-600	Four Thirds	12.2	4032	3024	none	21.5	10.3	541	55
8.		Olympus E-620	Four Thirds	12.2	4032	3024	none	21.3	10.3	536	55
9.		Olympus E-P1	Four Thirds	12.2	4032	3024	720/30p	21.4	10.4	536	55
10.		Olympus E-P3	Four Thirds	12.2	4032	3024	1080/60i	20.8	10.1	536	51
11.		Panasonic L10	Four Thirds	10.0	3648	2736	none	21.3	10.8	429	55
Note: DXO values in italics represent estimates based on sensor size and age.

In the United States, the E-510 was initially launched in March 2007 at a price of $799.

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Camera to camera comparisons

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