Olympus E-PL3 vs Olympus 7030

Its time to look a bit more closely at the Olympus E-PL3 and Olympus 7030, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and both of them are offered by Olympus. The image resolution of the E-PL3 (12MP) and the 7030 (14MP) is relatively similar but the E-PL3 (Four Thirds) and 7030 (1/2.3") provide different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL3 was launched 21 months after the 7030 which makes them a generation away from one another. Each of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-PL3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Olympus 7030 being a Compact camera.

Before going right into a more detailed comparison, here is a short highlight of how the E-PL3 matches up against the 7030 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN E-PL3 & Olympus Stylus 7030. The complete galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL3 Gallery & Olympus 7030 Gallery.

When you are looking to travel with your camera regularly, you have to consider its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-PL3 offers physical measurements of 110mm x 64mm x 37mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.5") having a weight of 313 grams (0.69 lbs) whilst the Olympus 7030 has proportions of 93mm x 56mm x 26mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 1.0") having a weight of 140 grams (0.31 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-PL3 and Olympus 7030 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you use at the time. Below is a front view over all size comparison of the E-PL3 and the 7030.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-PL3 and 7030 is 88 and 95 respectively.

Quite often, its hard to picture the difference between sensor dimensions purely by going over a spec sheet. The image below will help offer you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-PL3 and 7030.

Clearly, both of the cameras come with different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL3 due to its bigger sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field easier and the Olympus 7030 will offer more detail utilizing its extra 2MP. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop pictures a good deal more aggressively. The more recent E-PL3 provides an advantage in sensor tech.