Olympus E-3 vs Olympus SZ-11

Below, we will be contrasting the Olympus E-3 versus Olympus SZ-11, former is a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and they are both manufactured by Olympus. There is a substantial difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-3 (10MP) and SZ-11 (14MP) and the E-3 (Four Thirds) and SZ-11 (1/2.3") come with different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The E-3 was revealed 4 years prior to the SZ-11 which is quite a big difference as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-3 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus SZ-11 being a Compact camera.

Before we go in to a step-by-step comparison, below is a short summary of how the E-3 scores against the SZ-11 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-3 & Olympus SZ-11. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-3 Gallery & Olympus SZ-11 Gallery.

In case you're going to carry around your camera often, you'll have to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-3 has external dimensions of 142mm x 116mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") with a weight of 890 grams (1.96 lbs) and the Olympus SZ-11 has sizing of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") and a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs).

See the Olympus E-3 versus Olympus SZ-11 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you are working with at that moment. Following is the front view overall size comparison of the E-3 compared to the SZ-11.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability grade of the E-3 and SZ-11 is 56 and 89 respectively.

Generally, its tough to visualize the gap between sensor sizes simply by looking at specs. The image below will help offer you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the E-3 and SZ-11.

As you can plainly see, each of the cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-3 having a bigger sensor is going to make getting shallower DOF simpler and the Olympus SZ-11 will give more detail because of its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will enable you to crop photographs somewhat more aggressively. The more aged E-3 is going to be behind when it comes to sensor innovation.