Olympus E-P3 vs Panasonic SZ8

Lets look a little more closely at the Olympus E-P3 vs Panasonic SZ8, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by brands Olympus and Panasonic. There is a sizable difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-P3 (12MP) and SZ8 (16MP) and the E-P3 (Four Thirds) and SZ8 (1/2.3") possess totally different sensor dimensions.

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The E-P3 was unveiled 3 years earlier than the SZ8 and that is quite a significant difference as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-P3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic SZ8 being a Compact camera.

Before diving straight into a detailed comparison, below is a short introduction of how the E-P3 scores versus the SZ8 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-P3 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ8. The full galleries are available at Olympus E-P3 Gallery & Panasonic SZ8 Gallery.

For those who are going to carry your camera frequently, you have to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-P3 offers external dimensions of 122mm x 69mm x 34mm (4.8" x 2.7" x 1.3") accompanied by a weight of 369 grams (0.81 lbs) and the Panasonic SZ8 has dimensions of 100mm x 60mm x 27mm (3.9" x 2.4" x 1.1") along with a weight of 159 grams (0.35 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-P3 vs Panasonic SZ8 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you choose at that time. Below is the front view dimensions comparison of the E-P3 versus the SZ8.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the E-P3 and SZ8 is 86 and 94 respectively.

Often, it is very tough to see the difference between sensor sizing purely by reviewing technical specs. The visual here will help offer you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the E-P3 and SZ8.

As you have seen, the 2 cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The E-P3 using its larger sensor will make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Panasonic SZ8 will offer you extra detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also help you crop images somewhat more aggressively. The older E-P3 is going to be behind in sensor innovation.