Olympus E-P3 vs Sony RX100 II

Below is a extended review of the Olympus E-P3 and Sony RX100 II, one being a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the other is a Large Sensor Compact by rivals Olympus and Sony. There exists a sizeable gap between the sensor resolutions of the E-P3 (12MP) and RX100 II (20MP) and the E-P3 (Four Thirds) and RX100 II (1") come with totally different sensor sizing.

Meta to Introduce 'AI-Generated' Labels for Media starting next month

The E-P3 was introduced 22 months before the RX100 II making the cameras a generation apart from one another. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus E-P3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony RX100 II being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before getting straight into a thorough comparison, below is a quick overview of how the E-P3 grades against the RX100 II with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-P3 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 II. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-P3 Gallery and Sony RX100 II Gallery.

If you're aiming to lug around your camera often, you have to take into account its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-P3 comes with outside dimensions of 122mm x 69mm x 34mm (4.8" x 2.7" x 1.3") along with a weight of 369 grams (0.81 lbs) and the Sony RX100 II has proportions of 102mm x 58mm x 38mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.5") with a weight of 281 grams (0.62 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-P3 and Sony RX100 II in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you use at that moment. Below is the front view scale comparison of the E-P3 versus the RX100 II.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-P3 and RX100 II is 86 and 89 respectively.

More often than not, it is difficult to see the difference between sensor measurements just by reading specifications. The graphic here will provide you a stronger sense of the sensor sizes in the E-P3 and RX100 II.

Plainly, both cameras enjoy different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-P3 with its larger sensor will make getting shallow depth of field simpler and the Sony RX100 II will deliver more detail using its extra 8MP. Greater resolution will also enable you to crop images far more aggressively. The older E-P3 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor tech.