Olympus E-PL3 vs Olympus SP-565UZ

Below is a comprehensive comparison of the Olympus E-PL3 versus Olympus SP-565UZ, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom and they are both built by Olympus. The resolution of the E-PL3 (12MP) and the SP-565UZ (10MP) is very well matched but the E-PL3 (Four Thirds) and SP-565UZ (1/2.3") come with different sensor size.

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The E-PL3 was introduced 2 years later than the SP-565UZ and that is quite a serious difference as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus E-PL3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Olympus SP-565UZ being a Compact camera.

Before getting straight into a detailed comparison, below is a simple overview of how the E-PL3 scores versus the SP-565UZ with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-PL3 & Olympus SP-565UZ. The whole galleries are available at Olympus E-PL3 Gallery & Olympus SP-565UZ Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to lug around your camera often, you should consider its weight and size. The Olympus E-PL3 provides outside dimensions of 110mm x 64mm x 37mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.5") and a weight of 313 grams (0.69 lbs) whilst the Olympus SP-565UZ has specifications of 116mm x 84mm x 81mm (4.6" x 3.3" x 3.2") along with a weight of 413 grams (0.91 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-PL3 versus Olympus SP-565UZ in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you have at that time. Below is the front view overall size comparison of the E-PL3 vs the SP-565UZ.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL3 and SP-565UZ is 88 and 72 respectively.

Usually, its tough to visualize the difference between sensor measurements simply by checking technical specs. The visual here will provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL3 and SP-565UZ.

As you can tell, the 2 cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The E-PL3 using its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallow depth of field simpler and the Olympus E-PL3 will give you more detail using its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The newer E-PL3 provides an advantage with regard to sensor tech.