Olympus E-P3 vs Olympus 7030

Its time to look a bit more closely at the Olympus E-P3 and Olympus 7030, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and both are designed by Olympus. The image resolution of the E-P3 (12MP) and the 7030 (14MP) is pretty similar but the E-P3 (Four Thirds) and 7030 (1/2.3") offer totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-P3 was unveiled 20 months later than the 7030 which makes them a generation apart from each other. Both of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-P3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Olympus 7030 being a Compact camera.

Before going straight to a comprehensive comparison, here is a simple overview of how the E-P3 matches up vs the 7030 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-P3 & Olympus Stylus 7030. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-P3 Gallery & Olympus 7030 Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to lug around your camera frequently, you have to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-P3 provides outer dimensions of 122mm x 69mm x 34mm (4.8" x 2.7" x 1.3") with a weight of 369 grams (0.81 lbs) while the Olympus 7030 has dimensions of 93mm x 56mm x 26mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 1.0") and a weight of 140 grams (0.31 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-P3 and Olympus 7030 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you choose during that time. Following is a front view dimension comparison of the E-P3 compared to the 7030.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability score of the E-P3 and 7030 is 86 and 95 respectively.

Generally, it's tough to envision the contrast between sensor measurements only by going over specs. The graphic underneath will help provide you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-P3 and 7030.

As you can plainly see, both the cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-P3 having a bigger sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field simpler and the Olympus 7030 will offer greater detail having an extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution will make it easier to crop photographs a good deal more aggressively. The more modern E-P3 is going to have an edge with regard to sensor tech.