Olympus E-PL3 vs Sony WX30

Let's look more closely at the Olympus E-PL3 versus Sony WX30, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Compact by brands Olympus and Sony. There is a considerable difference among the resolutions of the E-PL3 (12MP) and WX30 (16MP) and the E-PL3 (Four Thirds) and WX30 (1/2.3") boast different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL3 was manufactured 2 months later than the WX30 and they are both of a similar age. Both cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-PL3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony WX30 being a Compact camera.

Before getting straight to a complete comparison, here is a short introduction of how the E-PL3 grades vs the WX30 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus PEN E-PL3 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX30. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-PL3 Gallery & Sony WX30 Gallery.

For anyone who is intending to lug around your camera frequently, you need to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-PL3 enjoys physical 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 Sony WX30 has dimensions of 92mm x 52mm x 19mm (3.6" x 2.0" x 0.7") and a weight of 117 grams (0.26 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-PL3 versus Sony WX30 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are using at that time. Underneath is a front view dimension comparison of the E-PL3 and the WX30.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL3 and WX30 is 88 and 96 respectively.

Generally, it can be hard to picture the gap in sensor measurements purely by going through specs. The graphic below will help give you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL3 and WX30.

As you can plainly see, both of those cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-PL3 because of its larger sensor is going to make achieving shallower DOF less difficult and the Sony WX30 will show greater detail due to its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop images a good deal more aggressively.