Olympus FE-5020 vs Panasonic G3

Its time to look much closer at the Olympus FE-5020 and Panasonic G3, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by rivals Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a noticeable gap between the resolutions of the FE-5020 (12MP) and G3 (16MP) and the FE-5020 (1/2.3") and G3 (Four Thirds) feature totally different sensor measurements.

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The FE-5020 was launched 23 months before the G3 making the cameras a generation apart from one another. The two cameras come with different body type with the Olympus FE-5020 being a Compact camera and the Panasonic G3 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving through a comprehensive comparison, below is a brief summation of how the FE-5020 scores vs the G3 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus FE-5020 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus FE-5020 Gallery & Panasonic G3 Gallery.

For anyone who is planning to lug around your camera often, you are going to need to factor in its weight and measurements. The Olympus FE-5020 has got physical dimensions of 93mm x 56mm x 25mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 1.0") accompanied by a weight of 137 grams (0.30 lbs) and the Panasonic G3 has proportions of 115mm x 84mm x 47mm (4.5" x 3.3" x 1.9") along with a weight of 336 grams (0.74 lbs).

Compare the Olympus FE-5020 and Panasonic G3 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you use at that time. Here is the front view sizing comparison of the FE-5020 versus the G3.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the FE-5020 and G3 is 95 and 83 respectively.

Sometimes, it's hard to envision the gap between sensor measurements only by reviewing technical specs. The graphic underneath might offer you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the FE-5020 and G3.

As you can tell, both of the cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The FE-5020 because of its tinier sensor will make getting shallow depth of field more difficult and the Panasonic G3 will offer more detail utilizing its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also let you crop images somewhat more aggressively. The older FE-5020 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.