Olympus E-PL3 vs Sony A58

Following is a comprehensive assessment of the Olympus E-PL3 and Sony A58, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Sony. There exists a sizeable gap among the image resolutions of the E-PL3 (12MP) and A58 (20MP) and the E-PL3 (Four Thirds) and A58 (APS-C) have different sensor sizes.

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The E-PL3 was brought out 3 years before the A58 which is a fairly large gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-PL3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A58 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going straight to a in-depth comparison, here is a quick highlight of how the E-PL3 grades versus the A58 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus PEN E-PL3 and Sony SLT-A58. The entire galleries are available at Olympus E-PL3 Gallery and Sony A58 Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to carry around your camera often, you will need to take into account its weight and size. The Olympus E-PL3 has got 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) and the Sony A58 has specifications of 129mm x 95mm x 78mm (5.1" x 3.7" x 3.1") and a weight of 492 grams (1.08 lbs).

See the Olympus E-PL3 and Sony A58 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you choose during that time. The following is a front view sizing comparison of the E-PL3 versus the A58.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL3 and A58 is 88 and 68 respectively.

Quite often, it is very hard to picture the difference in sensor sizes purely by seeing specs. The picture here might give you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL3 and A58.

As you can plainly see, both of these cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The E-PL3 because of its smaller sensor is going to make shooting shallower depth of field more challenging and the Sony A58 will show more detail having its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will help you crop photographs a good deal more aggressively. The more aged E-PL3 will be behind when it comes to sensor innovation.