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Olympus E-P3 vs Pentax RS1500

Portability
86
Imaging
48
Features
60
Overall
52
Olympus PEN E-P3 front
 
Pentax Optio RS1500 front
Portability
93
Imaging
37
Features
30
Overall
34

Olympus E-P3 vs Pentax RS1500 Key Specs

Olympus E-P3
(Full Review)
  • 12MP - Four Thirds Sensor
  • 3" Fixed Screen
  • ISO 100 - 12800
  • Sensor based Image Stabilization
  • 1920 x 1080 video
  • Micro Four Thirds Mount
  • 369g - 122 x 69 x 34mm
  • Revealed August 2011
  • Succeeded the Olympus E-P2
  • Refreshed by Olympus E-P5
Pentax RS1500
(Full Review)
  • 14MP - 1/2.3" Sensor
  • 2.7" Fixed Screen
  • ISO 80 - 6400
  • 1280 x 720 video
  • 28-110mm (F3.5-5.5) lens
  • 157g - 114 x 58 x 28mm
  • Introduced March 2011
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Olympus E-P3 vs Pentax RS1500 Overview

Lets take a deeper look at the Olympus E-P3 versus Pentax RS1500, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by competitors Olympus and Pentax. The sensor resolution of the E-P3 (12MP) and the RS1500 (14MP) is pretty close but the E-P3 (Four Thirds) and RS1500 (1/2.3") feature totally different sensor sizes.

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The E-P3 was released 6 months after the RS1500 which means that they are of a similar age. Each of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-P3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax RS1500 being a Compact camera.

Before delving through a in depth comparison, below is a short summary of how the E-P3 scores against the RS1500 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

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Reasons to pick Olympus E-P3 over the Pentax RS1500

 E-P3 RS1500 
Screen sizing3"2.7"Bigger screen (+0.3")
Screen resolution614k230kCrisper screen (+384k dot)
Touch screen Quickly navigate

Reasons to pick Pentax RS1500 over the Olympus E-P3

 RS1500 E-P3 

Common features in the Olympus E-P3 and Pentax RS1500

 E-P3 RS1500 
IntroducedAugust 2011March 2011Same age
Focus manually Very precise focusing
Screen typeFixed Fixed Fixed screen
Selfie screen Lack of selfie screen

Olympus E-P3 vs Pentax RS1500 Physical Comparison

When you are looking to carry around your camera often, you should consider its weight and volume. The Olympus E-P3 offers outside 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) whilst the Pentax RS1500 has sizing of 114mm x 58mm x 28mm (4.5" x 2.3" x 1.1") accompanied by a weight of 157 grams (0.35 lbs).

Compare the Olympus E-P3 versus Pentax RS1500 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool. Camera Size Comparison with Lenses

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you are using at that moment. Underneath is the front view physical size comparison of the E-P3 versus the RS1500.

Olympus E-P3 vs Pentax RS1500 size comparison

Using size and weight, the portability grade of the E-P3 and RS1500 is 86 and 93 respectively.

Olympus E-P3 vs Pentax RS1500 top view buttons comparison

Olympus E-P3 vs Pentax RS1500 Sensor Comparison

Usually, its tough to visualise the contrast in sensor sizes simply by looking through technical specs. The image here will provide you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-P3 and RS1500.

As you have seen, both of these cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-P3 because of its bigger sensor will make getting shallow DOF easier and the Pentax RS1500 will render greater detail as a result of its extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also let you crop pictures a little more aggressively.

Olympus E-P3 vs Pentax RS1500 sensor size comparison

Olympus E-P3 vs Pentax RS1500 Screen and ViewFinder

Olympus E-P3 vs Pentax RS1500 Screen and Viewfinder comparison
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Photography Type Scores

Portrait Comparison

Portrait photography with Olympus E-P3
Portrait photography with Pentax RS1500
60
has manual focus
decent sensor size (Four Thirds)
has face detect focusing
delivers RAW formats
low MP (12 megapixels)
35
manual focus
decent MP (14MP)
no manual exposure
cannot use external flash
sensor size is tiny (1/2.3")
lacks RAW format
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Street Comparison

Street photography with Olympus E-P3
Street photography with Pentax RS1500
76
image stabilization (Sensor based)
decent sensor size (Four Thirds)
delivers RAW formats
comes with touch to focus
screen does not articulate
54
weather proofing
screen does not articulate
no image stabilization
sensor size is tiny (1/2.3")
lacks RAW format
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Sports Comparison

Olympus E-P3 Sports photography information
Pentax RS1500 Sports photography information
49
image stabilization (Sensor based)
decent sensor size (Four Thirds)
has tracking focus
max fps very slow (3.0 fps)
low MP (12MP)
has no phase detect AF
37
decent MP (14 megapixels)
includes tracking focus
weather proofing
continuous shooting slow (1.0 fps)
no shutter priority
no image stabilization
sensor size is tiny (1/2.3")
lacks phase detect autofocus
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Travel Comparison

Olympus E-P3 Travel photography features
Pentax RS1500 Travel photography features
60
comes with touch to focus
has built in flash
lack of Time Lapse recording
low MP (12 megapixels)
does not posses selfie friendly display
67
weather proofing
decent MP (14 megapixels)
built-in flash
really wide (28mm)
does not have Time Lapse function
screen isn't selfie friendly
sluggish maximum aperture (f3.5)
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Landscape Comparison

Olympus E-P3 Landscape photography info
Pentax RS1500 Landscape photography info
65
has manual focus
interchangeable lenses (Micro Four Thirds mount)
good sized screen (3")
image stabilization (Sensor based)
decent sensor size (Four Thirds)
delivers RAW formats
low MP (12 megapixels)
lack of Time Lapse recording
40
manual focus
really wide (28mm)
decent MP (14 megapixels)
weather proofing
fixed lens (fixed lens mount)
sluggish maximum aperture (f3.5)
small screen (2.7")
no manual exposure
no image stabilization
sensor size is tiny (1/2.3")
lacks RAW format
does not have Time Lapse function
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Vlogging Comparison

Olympus E-P3 Vlogging factors
Pentax RS1500 Vlogging factors
35
touchscreen
image stabilization (Sensor based)
has face detect focusing
high quality video (1920 x 1080 pixels)
does not posses selfie friendly display
lack of mic socket
25
really wide (28mm)
sluggish maximum aperture (f3.5)
screen isn't selfie friendly
no image stabilization
low quality video (1280 x 720 resolution)
does not have mic jack
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Olympus E-P3 vs Pentax RS1500 Specifications

Detailed spec comparison table for Olympus E-P3 and Pentax RS1500
 Olympus PEN E-P3Pentax Optio RS1500
General Information
Brand Olympus Pentax
Model Olympus PEN E-P3 Pentax Optio RS1500
Category Entry-Level Mirrorless Small Sensor Compact
Revealed 2011-08-17 2011-03-16
Body design Rangefinder-style mirrorless Compact
Sensor Information
Processor Chip TruePic VI -
Sensor type CMOS CCD
Sensor size Four Thirds 1/2.3"
Sensor dimensions 17.3 x 13mm 6.17 x 4.55mm
Sensor surface area 224.9mm² 28.1mm²
Sensor resolution 12MP 14MP
Anti aliasing filter
Aspect ratio 4:3 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9
Full resolution 4032 x 3024 4288 x 3216
Max native ISO 12800 6400
Lowest native ISO 100 80
RAW pictures
Autofocusing
Focus manually
Touch focus
Continuous autofocus
Autofocus single
Autofocus tracking
Selective autofocus
Autofocus center weighted
Autofocus multi area
Autofocus live view
Face detection focus
Contract detection focus
Phase detection focus
Number of focus points 35 9
Lens
Lens mount Micro Four Thirds fixed lens
Lens focal range - 28-110mm (3.9x)
Largest aperture - f/3.5-5.5
Macro focus distance - 1cm
Total lenses 107 -
Crop factor 2.1 5.8
Screen
Range of screen Fixed Type Fixed Type
Screen sizing 3" 2.7"
Resolution of screen 614 thousand dot 230 thousand dot
Selfie friendly
Liveview
Touch screen
Screen technology 3:2 OLED with Anti-Fingerprint Coating TFT color LCD with Anti-reflective coating
Viewfinder Information
Viewfinder Electronic (optional) None
Features
Lowest shutter speed 60 secs 4 secs
Highest shutter speed 1/4000 secs 1/1500 secs
Continuous shooting speed 3.0 frames per second 1.0 frames per second
Shutter priority
Aperture priority
Manually set exposure
Exposure compensation Yes -
Change white balance
Image stabilization
Inbuilt flash
Flash range 10.00 m (@ ISO 200) 3.90 m
Flash settings Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Fill-in, Slow Sync, Wireless, Manual (3 levels) Auto, On, Off, Red-eye, Soft
Hot shoe
Auto exposure bracketing
White balance bracketing
Highest flash sync 1/180 secs -
Exposure
Multisegment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF area
Center weighted
Video features
Supported video resolutions 1920 x 1080 (60 fps), 1280 x 720 (60, 30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps) 1280 x 720 (30, 15 fps), 640 x 480 (30, 15 fps), 320 x 240 (30, 15 fps)
Max video resolution 1920x1080 1280x720
Video data format AVCHD, Motion JPEG Motion JPEG
Mic input
Headphone input
Connectivity
Wireless None None
Bluetooth
NFC
HDMI
USB USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
GPS None None
Physical
Environment seal
Water proof
Dust proof
Shock proof
Crush proof
Freeze proof
Weight 369 gr (0.81 pounds) 157 gr (0.35 pounds)
Dimensions 122 x 69 x 34mm (4.8" x 2.7" x 1.3") 114 x 58 x 28mm (4.5" x 2.3" x 1.1")
DXO scores
DXO All around score 51 not tested
DXO Color Depth score 20.8 not tested
DXO Dynamic range score 10.1 not tested
DXO Low light score 536 not tested
Other
Battery life 330 images 260 images
Form of battery Battery Pack Battery Pack
Battery model BLS-5 D-LI92
Self timer Yes (2 or 12 sec) Yes (2 or 10 sec)
Time lapse recording
Storage media SD/SDHC/SDXC card SD/SDHC/SDXC, Internal
Storage slots 1 1
Price at launch $0 $150