Olympus E-1 vs Sigma DP3 Merrill

Below, we are contrasting the Olympus E-1 versus Sigma DP3 Merrill, former is a Pro DSLR while the other is a Large Sensor Compact by competitors Olympus and Sigma. There exists a substantial gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-1 (5MP) and DP3 Merrill (15MP) and the E-1 (Four Thirds) and DP3 Merrill (APS-C) use different sensor measurements.

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The E-1 was released 10 years before the DP3 Merrill which is a fairly big difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-1 being a Large SLR camera and the Sigma DP3 Merrill being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before diving straight into a in-depth comparison, below is a short highlight of how the E-1 scores vs the DP3 Merrill when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-1 & Sigma DP3 Merrill. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-1 Gallery & Sigma DP3 Merrill Gallery.

For anybody who is intending to carry around your camera frequently, you are going to need to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-1 provides exterior dimensions of 141mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.2") with a weight of 735 grams (1.62 lbs) while the Sigma DP3 Merrill has measurements of 122mm x 67mm x 59mm (4.8" x 2.6" x 2.3") accompanied by a weight of 330 grams (0.73 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-1 versus Sigma DP3 Merrill in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are working with at the time. Here is the front view physical size comparison of the E-1 against the DP3 Merrill.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-1 and DP3 Merrill is 59 and 83 respectively.

Typically, it's tough to visualize the contrast in sensor sizes simply by looking through specs. The picture below will help provide you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-1 and DP3 Merrill.

All in all, both of the cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-1 due to its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field harder and the Sigma DP3 Merrill will result in greater detail as a result of its extra 10 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop photos much more aggressively. The more aged E-1 will be behind with regard to sensor technology.