Olympus E-400 vs Sony NEX-3

Lets examine more in depth at the Olympus E-400 versus Sony NEX-3, former being a Entry-Level DSLR while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by competitors Olympus and Sony. There exists a considerable gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-400 (10MP) and NEX-3 (14MP) and the E-400 (Four Thirds) and NEX-3 (APS-C) feature totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-400 was introduced 4 years earlier than the NEX-3 and that is a fairly large difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-400 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony NEX-3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting in to a complete comparison, below is a concise highlight of how the E-400 scores versus the NEX-3 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus E-400 & Sony Alpha NEX-3. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-400 Gallery & Sony NEX-3 Gallery.

If you're planning to lug around your camera, you need to factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-400 comes with external dimensions of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") with a weight of 435 grams (0.96 lbs) and the Sony NEX-3 has measurements of 117mm x 62mm x 33mm (4.6" x 2.4" x 1.3") along with a weight of 297 grams (0.65 lbs).

See the Olympus E-400 versus Sony NEX-3 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are using at the time. The following is the front view over all size comparison of the E-400 vs the NEX-3.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-400 and NEX-3 is 77 and 89 respectively.

Quite often, it can be difficult to envision the difference in sensor measurements just by viewing specs. The graphic underneath might offer you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-400 and NEX-3.

All in all, both of those cameras offer different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-400 with its smaller sensor will make shooting shallow depth of field tougher and the Sony NEX-3 will render extra detail using its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop images a little more aggressively. The older E-400 will be behind with regard to sensor technology.