Olympus E-3 vs Sony QX100

Following is a extended review of the Olympus E-3 and Sony QX100, one is a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Lens-style by brands Olympus and Sony. There is a big difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-3 (10MP) and QX100 (20MP) and the E-3 (Four Thirds) and QX100 (1") provide totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-3 was announced 6 years before the QX100 which is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-3 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony QX100 being a Lens-style camera.

Before we go straight to a complete comparison, here is a concise introduction of how the E-3 scores against the QX100 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-3 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-QX100. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-3 Gallery and Sony QX100 Gallery.

For those who are going to carry around your camera often, you'll have to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-3 enjoys exterior dimensions of 142mm x 116mm x 75mm (5.6" x 4.6" x 3.0") with a weight of 890 grams (1.96 lbs) while the Sony QX100 has dimensions of 63mm x 63mm x 56mm (2.5" x 2.5" x 2.2") having a weight of 179 grams (0.39 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-3 and Sony QX100 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you use at that time. Following is a front view size comparison of the E-3 against the QX100.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability rating of the E-3 and QX100 is 56 and 92 respectively.

Often, it is difficult to visualise the gap between sensor sizes just by checking specs. The picture underneath may give you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-3 and QX100.

As you can plainly see, each of the cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The E-3 using its larger sensor will make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Sony QX100 will resolve more detail with its extra 10 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop images a bit more aggressively. The more aged E-3 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.