Olympus E-1 vs Sony NEX-3N

Below is a extended assessment of the Olympus E-1 versus Sony NEX-3N, one being a Pro DSLR and the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a sizeable difference between the image resolutions of the E-1 (5MP) and NEX-3N (16MP) and the E-1 (Four Thirds) and NEX-3N (APS-C) posses totally different sensor sizes.

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The E-1 was unveiled 10 years before the NEX-3N and that is quite a large gap as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-1 being a Large SLR camera and the Sony NEX-3N being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting right into a thorough comparison, here is a simple summation of how the E-1 grades vs the NEX-3N in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus E-1 and Sony Alpha NEX-3N. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-1 Gallery and Sony NEX-3N Gallery.

For those who are looking to lug around your camera frequently, you are going to need to factor in its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-1 features outer measurements of 141mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.2") and a weight of 735 grams (1.62 lbs) and the Sony NEX-3N has proportions of 110mm x 62mm x 35mm (4.3" x 2.4" x 1.4") with a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-1 versus Sony NEX-3N in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you are working with at that moment. Here is a front view dimensions comparison of the E-1 vs the NEX-3N.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability grade of the E-1 and NEX-3N is 59 and 89 respectively.

Usually, its difficult to visualise the contrast between sensor measurements simply by reading specs. The visual here should give you a greater sense of the sensor sizing in the E-1 and NEX-3N.

As you can plainly see, each of the cameras come with different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-1 having a tinier sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field tougher and the Sony NEX-3N will offer you greater detail having an extra 11 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also help you crop images a good deal more aggressively. The older E-1 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor technology.