Olympus E-PL1s vs Pentax K-3 II

Following is a complete review of the Olympus E-PL1s and Pentax K-3 II, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by brands Olympus and Pentax. There is a considerable difference between the resolutions of the E-PL1s (12MP) and K-3 II (24MP) and the E-PL1s (Four Thirds) and K-3 II (APS-C) offer different sensor sizes.

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The E-PL1s was unveiled 5 years before the K-3 II which is quite a large difference as far as tech is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL1s being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax K-3 II being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before going right into a full comparison, here is a simple introduction of how the E-PL1s matches up versus the K-3 II with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN E-PL1s & Pentax K-3 II. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL1s Gallery & Pentax K-3 II Gallery.

For anyone who is planning to carry around your camera, you will want to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-PL1s comes with exterior dimensions 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 Pentax K-3 II has dimensions of 131mm x 100mm x 77mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") along with a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus E-PL1s and Pentax K-3 II in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you have at the time. The following is a front view dimension comparison of the E-PL1s versus the K-3 II.

Using size and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL1s and K-3 II is 86 and 59 respectively.

Oftentimes, it can be difficult to imagine the difference between sensor sizes simply by going over specs. The picture here will help offer you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL1s and K-3 II.

As you can plainly see, each of the cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The E-PL1s having a tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallow depth of field harder and the Pentax K-3 II will deliver extra detail having an extra 12 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also help you crop photographs more aggressively. The more aged E-PL1s is going to be behind when it comes to sensor technology.