Olympus E-PL3 vs Sony A3000

Lets look much closer at the Olympus E-PL3 vs Sony A3000, both Entry-Level Mirrorless digital cameras by brands Olympus and Sony. There is a substantial difference between the sensor resolutions of the E-PL3 (12MP) and A3000 (20MP) and the E-PL3 (Four Thirds) and A3000 (APS-C) boast totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL3 was unveiled 23 months prior to the A3000 which makes them a generation away from each other. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-PL3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A3000 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera.

Before we go right into a detailed comparison, here is a simple view of how the E-PL3 scores versus the A3000 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN E-PL3 & Sony Alpha A3000. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL3 Gallery & Sony A3000 Gallery.

For anybody who is going to travel with your camera, you'll have to consider its weight and measurements. The Olympus E-PL3 comes with exterior measurements of 110mm x 64mm x 37mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.5") with a weight of 313 grams (0.69 lbs) while the Sony A3000 has proportions of 128mm x 91mm x 85mm (5.0" x 3.6" x 3.3") accompanied by a weight of 411 grams (0.91 lbs).

Examine the Olympus E-PL3 vs Sony A3000 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you have chosen at the time. The following is a front view size comparison of the E-PL3 versus the A3000.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the E-PL3 and A3000 is 88 and 69 respectively.

In many cases, its hard to visualise the contrast between sensor dimensions purely by reading specs. The picture below may give you a clearer sense of the sensor sizing in the E-PL3 and A3000.

As you can plainly see, each of these cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL3 using its tinier sensor will make shooting bokeh more difficult and the Sony A3000 will offer you extra detail having an extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop photographs a good deal more aggressively. The more aged E-PL3 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.