Olympus FE-4030 vs Olympus E-PL3

Below, we will be looking at the Olympus FE-4030 versus Olympus E-PL3, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and both of them are sold by Olympus. The image resolution of the FE-4030 (14MP) and the E-PL3 (12MP) is pretty well matched but the FE-4030 (1/2.3") and E-PL3 (Four Thirds) use different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The FE-4030 was unveiled 20 months earlier than the E-PL3 which makes the cameras a generation away from one another. Each of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus FE-4030 being a Compact camera and the Olympus E-PL3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going in to a in depth comparison, below is a concise synopsis of how the FE-4030 matches up versus the E-PL3 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus FE-4030 and Olympus PEN E-PL3. The full galleries are available at Olympus FE-4030 Gallery and Olympus E-PL3 Gallery.

In case you're going to carry around your camera frequently, you will want to consider its weight and size. The Olympus FE-4030 has got outer measurements of 93mm x 56mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") having a weight of 146 grams (0.32 lbs) whilst the Olympus E-PL3 has specifications of 110mm x 64mm x 37mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.5") accompanied by a weight of 313 grams (0.69 lbs).

Examine the Olympus FE-4030 versus Olympus E-PL3 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you are using at that time. Below is the front view size comparison of the FE-4030 vs the E-PL3.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the FE-4030 and E-PL3 is 95 and 88 respectively.

Typically, its difficult to picture the difference between sensor sizes just by looking at a spec sheet. The picture here might give you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the FE-4030 and E-PL3.

As you can see, each of the cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The FE-4030 using its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF more difficult and the Olympus FE-4030 will give you more detail having an extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution will make it easier to crop photographs somewhat more aggressively. The more aged FE-4030 is going to be behind in sensor technology.