Olympus E-PL3 vs Sony A580

Let's look more in depth at the Olympus E-PL3 versus Sony A580, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a big gap among the image resolutions of the E-PL3 (12MP) and A580 (16MP) and the E-PL3 (Four Thirds) and A580 (APS-C) provide totally different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL3 was announced 4 months after the A580 so they are of a similar generation. Each of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-PL3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A580 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting into a in depth comparison, here is a concise introduction of how the E-PL3 scores vs the A580 for portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN E-PL3 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A580. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL3 Gallery and Sony A580 Gallery.

When you are looking to carry around your camera frequently, you're going to have to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-PL3 has outside dimensions of 110mm x 64mm x 37mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.5") accompanied by a weight of 313 grams (0.69 lbs) whilst the Sony A580 has measurements of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") accompanied by a weight of 599 grams (1.32 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus E-PL3 versus Sony A580 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you select at that moment. Following is a front view dimension comparison of the E-PL3 versus the A580.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL3 and A580 is 88 and 64 respectively.

Quite often, it is very tough to visualise the gap in sensor sizes purely by looking through a spec sheet. The image underneath might provide you a greater sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL3 and A580.

As you can see, both cameras feature different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The E-PL3 having a smaller sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field more difficult and the Sony A580 will result in extra detail with its extra 4MP. Higher resolution can also make it easier to crop photographs way more aggressively.