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Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200

Portability
88
Imaging
48
Features
52
Overall
49
Olympus PEN E-PL3 front
 
Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200 front
Portability
86
Imaging
54
Features
66
Overall
58

Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200 Key Specs

Olympus E-PL3
(Full Review)
  • 12MP - Four Thirds Sensor
  • 3" Tilting Screen
  • ISO 200 - 12800
  • Sensor based Image Stabilization
  • 1920 x 1080 video
  • Micro Four Thirds Mount
  • 313g - 110 x 64 x 37mm
  • Revealed September 2011
  • Replaced the Olympus E-PL2
Panasonic ZS200
(Full Review)
  • 20MP - 1" Sensor
  • 3" Fixed Screen
  • ISO 125 - 12800 (Boost to 25600)
  • Optical Image Stabilization
  • 3840 x 2160 video
  • 24-360mm (F3.3-6.4) lens
  • 340g - 111 x 66 x 45mm
  • Revealed February 2018
  • Also Known as Lumix DC-TZ200
  • Earlier Model is Panasonic ZS100
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Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200 Overview

Let's look more closely at the Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Large Sensor Compact by competitors Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a noticeable gap among the sensor resolutions of the E-PL3 (12MP) and ZS200 (20MP) and the E-PL3 (Four Thirds) and ZS200 (1") boast different sensor measurements.

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The E-PL3 was revealed 7 years earlier than the ZS200 and that is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-PL3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic ZS200 being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before going straight to a thorough comparison, here is a short summation of how the E-PL3 scores versus the ZS200 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

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Reasons to pick Olympus E-PL3 over the Panasonic ZS200

 E-PL3 ZS200 
Screen typeTiltingFixed Tilting screen

Reasons to pick Panasonic ZS200 over the Olympus E-PL3

 ZS200 E-PL3 
RevealedFebruary 2018September 2011More recent by 77 months
Screen resolution1240k460kSharper screen (+780k dot)
Touch friendly screen Quickly navigate

Common features in the Olympus E-PL3 and Panasonic ZS200

 E-PL3 ZS200 
Manually focus Very exact focus
Screen size3"3"Same screen measurements
Selfie screen Absent selfie screen

Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200 Physical Comparison

For those who are planning to lug around your camera often, you will need to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL3 offers outer dimensions of 110mm x 64mm x 37mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.5") along with a weight of 313 grams (0.69 lbs) and the Panasonic ZS200 has sizing of 111mm x 66mm x 45mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.8") with a weight of 340 grams (0.75 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool. Camera Size Comparison with Lenses

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you have at that time. Below is a front view physical size comparison of the E-PL3 vs the ZS200.

Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200 size comparison

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL3 and ZS200 is 88 and 86 respectively.

Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200 top view buttons comparison

Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200 Sensor Comparison

Typically, it's hard to visualize the contrast in sensor measurements just by checking out specs. The visual below may give you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL3 and ZS200.

As you can plainly see, each of the cameras feature different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The E-PL3 with its bigger sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field simpler and the Panasonic ZS200 will show extra detail because of its extra 8MP. Higher resolution will also let you crop pictures way more aggressively. The older E-PL3 will be behind with regard to sensor technology.

Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200 sensor size comparison

Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200 Screen and ViewFinder

Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200 Screen and Viewfinder comparison
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Photography Type Scores

Portrait Comparison

Olympus E-PL3 as a Portrait photography camera
Panasonic ZS200 as a Portrait photography camera
60
focusing manually
good sensor size (Four Thirds)
has face detect autofocus
supports RAW formats
low megapixels (12MP)
65
manual focus
MP count decent (20 megapixels)
sensor size is good (1")
includes face detection focus
exports RAW files
no external flash support
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Street Comparison

Olympus E-PL3 Street photography info
Panasonic ZS200 Street photography info
84
screen tilts up and down
has image stabilization (Sensor based)
good sensor size (Four Thirds)
supports RAW formats
77
built in image stabilization (Optical)
sensor size is good (1")
exports RAW files
has touch to focus
no moving screen
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Sports Comparison

Olympus E-PL3 Sports photography advice
Panasonic ZS200 Sports photography advice
45
has image stabilization (Sensor based)
good sensor size (Four Thirds)
has tracking focus
painfully slow continuous shooting (6.0 frames/s)
low megapixels (12 megapixels)
low battery pack (300 per charge)
no phase detect autofocus
70
amazing zoom range (24-360mm 15.0 x zoom)
silent shutter (1/16,000s)
built in image stabilization (Optical)
MP count decent (20MP)
sensor size is good (1")
includes tracking autofocus
great battery power (370 CIPA)
no phase detect auto focus
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Travel Comparison

Travel photography with Olympus E-PL3
Travel photography with Panasonic ZS200
44
missing Time Lapse recording
low battery pack (300 per charge)
low megapixels (12 megapixels)
display is not selfie friendly
76
great battery power (370 CIPA)
supports bluetooth
has touch to focus
MP count decent (20 megapixels)
has built in flash
reasonably wide (24mm)
great zoom (360mm)
doesn't have selfie friendly screen
sluggish maximum aperture (f3.3)
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Landscape Comparison

Olympus E-PL3 Landscape photography details
Panasonic ZS200 Landscape photography details
61
focusing manually
switch lenses (Micro Four Thirds mount)
screen is a good size (3 inch)
has image stabilization (Sensor based)
good sensor size (Four Thirds)
supports RAW formats
low megapixels (12MP)
low battery pack (300 shots)
missing Time Lapse recording
70
manual focus
reasonably wide (24mm)
pretty good screen size (3 inches)
built in image stabilization (Optical)
MP count decent (20MP)
sensor size is good (1")
exports RAW files
great battery power (370 shots)
lens is fixed (fixed lens mount)
sluggish maximum aperture (f3.3)
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Vlogging Comparison

Olympus E-PL3 Vlogging features
Panasonic ZS200 Vlogging features
34
has image stabilization (Sensor based)
has face detect autofocus
high quality video (1920 x 1080 pxls)
display is not selfie friendly
missing mic port
35
reasonably wide (24mm)
screen is touchscreen
built in image stabilization (Optical)
includes face detection focus
high res video (3840 x 2160 pxls)
sluggish maximum aperture (f3.3)
doesn't have selfie friendly screen
no external microphone port
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Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic ZS200 Specifications

Detailed spec comparison table for Olympus E-PL3 and Panasonic ZS200
 Olympus PEN E-PL3Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200
General Information
Company Olympus Panasonic
Model Olympus PEN E-PL3 Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200
Also referred to as - Lumix DC-TZ200
Class Entry-Level Mirrorless Large Sensor Compact
Revealed 2011-09-20 2018-02-13
Body design Rangefinder-style mirrorless Large Sensor Compact
Sensor Information
Chip Truepic VI Venus Engine
Sensor type CMOS MOS
Sensor size Four Thirds 1"
Sensor measurements 17.3 x 13mm 13.2 x 8.8mm
Sensor surface area 224.9mm² 116.2mm²
Sensor resolution 12MP 20MP
Anti aliasing filter
Aspect ratio 4:3 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9
Maximum resolution 4032 x 3024 5472 x 3648
Maximum native ISO 12800 12800
Maximum boosted ISO - 25600
Min native ISO 200 125
RAW photos
Min boosted ISO - 80
Autofocusing
Focus manually
Autofocus touch
Autofocus continuous
Autofocus single
Autofocus tracking
Autofocus selectice
Center weighted autofocus
Multi area autofocus
Live view autofocus
Face detection autofocus
Contract detection autofocus
Phase detection autofocus
Number of focus points 35 49
Lens
Lens mount Micro Four Thirds fixed lens
Lens focal range - 24-360mm (15.0x)
Maximal aperture - f/3.3-6.4
Macro focus distance - 5cm
Amount of lenses 107 -
Focal length multiplier 2.1 2.7
Screen
Range of screen Tilting Fixed Type
Screen diagonal 3 inches 3 inches
Screen resolution 460k dot 1,240k dot
Selfie friendly
Liveview
Touch screen
Screen tech HyperCrystal LCD AR(Anti-Reflective) coating -
Viewfinder Information
Viewfinder Electronic (optional) Electronic
Viewfinder resolution - 2,330k dot
Viewfinder coverage - 100 percent
Viewfinder magnification - 0.53x
Features
Lowest shutter speed 60 seconds 60 seconds
Highest shutter speed 1/4000 seconds 1/2000 seconds
Highest silent shutter speed - 1/16000 seconds
Continuous shooting speed 6.0fps 10.0fps
Shutter priority
Aperture priority
Manually set exposure
Exposure compensation Yes Yes
Set white balance
Image stabilization
Inbuilt flash
Flash range no built-in flash 6.80 m (at Auto ISO)
Flash settings Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Fill-in, Slow Sync, Manual (3 levels) Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Forced On/Red-eye Reduction, Slow Sync., Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction, Forced Off
External flash
AE bracketing
WB bracketing
Highest flash sync 1/160 seconds -
Exposure
Multisegment metering
Average metering
Spot metering
Partial metering
AF area metering
Center weighted metering
Video features
Supported video resolutions 1920 x 1080 (60 fps), 1280 x 720 (60, 30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps) -
Maximum video resolution 1920x1080 3840x2160
Video file format AVCHD, Motion JPEG MPEG-4, AVCHD, H.264
Microphone jack
Headphone jack
Connectivity
Wireless None Built-In
Bluetooth
NFC
HDMI
USB USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) Yes
GPS None None
Physical
Environmental seal
Water proof
Dust proof
Shock proof
Crush proof
Freeze proof
Weight 313 gr (0.69 lbs) 340 gr (0.75 lbs)
Physical dimensions 110 x 64 x 37mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.5") 111 x 66 x 45mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.8")
DXO scores
DXO All around score 52 not tested
DXO Color Depth score 20.9 not tested
DXO Dynamic range score 10.3 not tested
DXO Low light score 499 not tested
Other
Battery life 300 photos 370 photos
Style of battery Battery Pack Battery Pack
Battery model BLS-5 -
Self timer Yes (2 or 12 sec) Yes (2 or 10 secs, 3 shots @ 10 sec)
Time lapse feature
Storage media SD/SDHC/SDXC SD/SDHC/SDXC card (UHS-I compatible)
Storage slots 1 1
Launch pricing $399 $800