Olympus E-420 vs Olympus SH-3

Lets take a deeper look at the Olympus E-420 vs Olympus SH-3, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both of them are offered by Olympus. There is a big difference between the resolutions of the E-420 (10MP) and SH-3 (16MP) and the E-420 (Four Thirds) and SH-3 (1/2.3") boast different sensor dimensions.

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The E-420 was released 8 years before the SH-3 and that is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-420 being a Compact SLR camera and the Olympus SH-3 being a Compact camera.

Before going into a step-by-step comparison, here is a concise view of how the E-420 matches up against the SH-3 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus E-420 and Olympus Stylus SH-3. The complete galleries are available at Olympus E-420 Gallery and Olympus SH-3 Gallery.

For those who are aiming to carry your camera frequently, you'll have to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-420 comes with outside dimensions of 130mm x 91mm x 53mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1") accompanied by a weight of 426 grams (0.94 lbs) whilst the Olympus SH-3 has dimensions of 109mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.7") with a weight of 271 grams (0.60 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-420 vs Olympus SH-3 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you are using at the time. Underneath is a front view size comparison of the E-420 and the SH-3.

Looking at size and weight, the portability rating of the E-420 and SH-3 is 77 and 88 respectively.

Usually, it's hard to picture the contrast between sensor sizing simply by looking at technical specs. The visual below will help offer you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the E-420 and SH-3.

As you have seen, the two cameras feature different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The E-420 due to its bigger sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field simpler and the Olympus SH-3 will give extra detail as a result of its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution will allow you to crop shots way more aggressively. The older E-420 is going to be behind with regard to sensor technology.