Olympus E-PL1 vs Panasonic SZ3

Below is a thorough assessment of the Olympus E-PL1 vs Panasonic SZ3, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a substantial gap between the sensor resolutions of the E-PL1 (12MP) and SZ3 (16MP) and the E-PL1 (Four Thirds) and SZ3 (1/2.3") feature totally different sensor sizes.

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The E-PL1 was announced 3 years earlier than the SZ3 and that is quite a big difference as far as technology is concerned. Each of the cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL1 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic SZ3 being a Compact camera.

Before going in to a in depth comparison, below is a quick synopsis of how the E-PL1 grades versus the SZ3 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN E-PL1 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ3. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL1 Gallery & Panasonic SZ3 Gallery.

For anybody who is going to lug around your camera frequently, you'll have to think about its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-PL1 provides external measurements of 115mm x 72mm x 42mm (4.5" x 2.8" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 334 grams (0.74 lbs) while the Panasonic SZ3 has proportions of 95mm x 56mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") with a weight of 126 grams (0.28 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-PL1 vs Panasonic SZ3 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are utilising at the time. Here is the front view dimension comparison of the E-PL1 compared to the SZ3.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the E-PL1 and SZ3 is 86 and 96 respectively.

Quite often, it is hard to see the contrast between sensor measurements purely by checking a spec sheet. The visual underneath may give you a far better sense of the sensor sizing in the E-PL1 and SZ3.

Clearly, each of the cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-PL1 using its bigger sensor will make getting shallower depth of field simpler and the Panasonic SZ3 will give more detail with its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also let you crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The older E-PL1 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.