Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic GX850

Its time to look more closely at the Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic GX850, both Entry-Level Mirrorless digital cameras by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There is a huge difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-PL3 (12MP) and GX850 (16MP) but they use the exact same sensor measurements (Four Thirds).

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The E-PL3 was announced 6 years prior to the GX850 and that is quite a significant gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of the cameras come with the identical body type (Rangefinder-style mirrorless).

Before going straight into a more detailed comparison, below is a short highlight of how the E-PL3 matches up versus the GX850 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL3 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX850. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL3 Gallery and Panasonic GX850 Gallery.

If you're going to lug around your camera often, you are going to need to factor its weight and size. The Olympus E-PL3 comes with outer 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 Panasonic GX850 has specifications of 107mm x 65mm x 33mm (4.2" x 2.6" x 1.3") along with a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-PL3 vs Panasonic GX850 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you are working with at the time. Here is the front view measurement comparison of the E-PL3 versus the GX850.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL3 and GX850 is 88 and 90 respectively.

Usually, it is hard to see the contrast between sensor measurements simply by checking a spec sheet. The visual underneath will help offer you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL3 and GX850.

Clearly, both cameras have got the exact same sensor measurements albeit not the same megapixels. You should expect the Panasonic GX850 to give more detail with its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop pictures much more aggressively. The older E-PL3 is going to be behind in sensor tech.