Olympus E-PL3 vs Sony A850

Let's look a bit more closely at the Olympus E-PL3 and Sony A850, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by rivals Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap between the resolutions of the E-PL3 (12MP) and A850 (25MP) and the E-PL3 (Four Thirds) and A850 (Full frame) offer different sensor measurements.

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The E-PL3 was unveiled 18 months after the A850 which makes them a generation away from one another. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A850 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before getting straight to a detailed comparison, here is a quick summation of how the E-PL3 grades against the A850 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN E-PL3 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A850. The full galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL3 Gallery & Sony A850 Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to travel with your camera frequently, you will have to take into account its weight and size. The Olympus E-PL3 features outer 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) and the Sony A850 has specifications of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") accompanied by a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-PL3 and Sony A850 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you have chosen at that time. The following is a front view proportions comparison of the E-PL3 and the A850.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-PL3 and A850 is 88 and 54 respectively.

Normally, it is difficult to imagine the gap between sensor dimensions only by reading through a spec sheet. The pic underneath will offer you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL3 and A850.

As you can see, each of the cameras have different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL3 having a tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF more challenging and the Sony A850 will give you more detail having an extra 13 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also help you crop photographs a bit more aggressively. The more recent E-PL3 provides an edge with regard to sensor technology.