Olympus E-300 vs Olympus Tough-3000

In this write-up, we will be matching up the Olympus E-300 versus Olympus Tough-3000, one being a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Waterproof and they are both created by Olympus. There is a huge difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-300 (8MP) and Tough-3000 (12MP) and the E-300 (Four Thirds) and Tough-3000 (1/2.3") enjoy different sensor dimensions.

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The E-300 was revealed 6 years earlier than the Tough-3000 and that is quite a significant gap as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-300 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Olympus Tough-3000 being a Compact camera.

Before going in to a in-depth comparison, below is a short overview of how the E-300 grades vs the Tough-3000 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-300 and Olympus Stylus Tough-3000. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-300 Gallery and Olympus Tough-3000 Gallery.

For anyone who is planning to lug around your camera regularly, you need to think about its weight and size. The Olympus E-300 provides outer dimensions of 147mm x 85mm x 64mm (5.8" x 3.3" x 2.5") with a weight of 624 grams (1.38 lbs) and the Olympus Tough-3000 has specifications of 96mm x 65mm x 23mm (3.8" x 2.6" x 0.9") with a weight of 159 grams (0.35 lbs).

Check out the Olympus E-300 versus Olympus Tough-3000 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you are working with during that time. Following is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-300 compared to the Tough-3000.

Looking at size and weight, the portability rating of the E-300 and Tough-3000 is 67 and 94 respectively.

Usually, it is difficult to visualize the difference between sensor measurements simply by looking at a spec sheet. The visual here will help provide you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-300 and Tough-3000.

As you can see, the two cameras enjoy different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-300 using its bigger sensor is going to make achieving shallower DOF less difficult and the Olympus Tough-3000 will give you greater detail because of its extra 4MP. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop photographs far more aggressively. The older E-300 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.