Olympus E-P3 vs Sony HX80

In this article, we are reviewing the Olympus E-P3 vs Sony HX80, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a substantial difference among the sensor resolutions of the E-P3 (12MP) and HX80 (18MP) and the E-P3 (Four Thirds) and HX80 (1/2.3") use totally different sensor size.

Pentax 17 Pre-Orders Outperform Expectations by a Landslide

The E-P3 was brought out 5 years before the HX80 and that is a fairly big difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of these cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-P3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony HX80 being a Compact camera.

Before going in to a more detailed comparison, below is a brief highlight of how the E-P3 matches up against the HX80 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-P3 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX80. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus E-P3 Gallery & Sony HX80 Gallery.

For anybody who is aiming to lug around your camera, you'll need to take into account its weight and volume. The Olympus E-P3 enjoys 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 Sony HX80 has sizing of 102mm x 58mm x 36mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.4") having a weight of 245 grams (0.54 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-P3 vs Sony HX80 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are employing during that time. Following is the front view overall size comparison of the E-P3 and the HX80.

Using size and weight, the portability grade of the E-P3 and HX80 is 86 and 91 respectively.

In many cases, it's tough to envision the contrast in sensor measurements merely by looking through a spec sheet. The graphic below should provide you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-P3 and HX80.

As you can see, both of the cameras enjoy different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-P3 because of its larger sensor will make getting shallower depth of field simpler and the Sony HX80 will provide you with more detail having its extra 6MP. Greater resolution can also allow you to crop images far more aggressively. The older E-P3 will be behind when it comes to sensor tech.