Olympus E-3 vs Sony NEX-5N

Here is a extended assessment of the Olympus E-3 and Sony NEX-5N, former being a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by companies Olympus and Sony. There is a large difference among the sensor resolutions of the E-3 (10MP) and NEX-5N (16MP) and the E-3 (Four Thirds) and NEX-5N (APS-C) boast totally different sensor size.

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The E-3 was launched 4 years earlier than the NEX-5N and that is a fairly serious difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-3 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony NEX-5N being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before delving right into a complete comparison, here is a simple overview of how the E-3 matches up versus the NEX-5N in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-3 & Sony Alpha NEX-5N. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-3 Gallery & Sony NEX-5N Gallery.

When you are going to carry your camera frequently, you need to consider its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-3 has physical measurements of 142mm x 116mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") along with a weight of 890 grams (1.96 lbs) whilst the Sony NEX-5N has dimensions of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") and a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-3 and Sony NEX-5N in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you have chosen at that time. Here is a front view dimension comparison of the E-3 versus the NEX-5N.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the E-3 and NEX-5N is 56 and 89 respectively.

Often, its tough to envision the gap in sensor sizing purely by checking out specs. The visual below will help provide you a more clear sense of the sensor measurements in the E-3 and NEX-5N.

As you can plainly see, both the cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The E-3 featuring a smaller sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field tougher and the Sony NEX-5N will produce more detail utilizing its extra 6MP. Higher resolution will let you crop photographs more aggressively. The older E-3 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.