Olympus E-PL9 vs Pentax K-3 II

The following is a extended review of the Olympus E-PL9 vs Pentax K-3 II, one is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the latter is a Advanced DSLR by rivals Olympus and Pentax. There exists a big gap among the image resolutions of the E-PL9 (16MP) and K-3 II (24MP) and the E-PL9 (Four Thirds) and K-3 II (APS-C) boast totally different sensor sizing.

Japan-exclusive Leica Leitz Phone 3 features big sensor and new modes

The E-PL9 was launched 2 years after the K-3 II which is a fairly big gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus E-PL9 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax K-3 II being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before going straight to a detailed comparison, here is a short view of how the E-PL9 grades vs the K-3 II in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus PEN E-PL9 and Pentax K-3 II. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL9 Gallery and Pentax K-3 II Gallery.

For anyone who is going to travel with your camera regularly, you're going to have to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Olympus E-PL9 enjoys outer dimensions of 117mm x 68mm x 39mm (4.6" x 2.7" x 1.5") with a weight of 380 grams (0.84 lbs) whilst the Pentax K-3 II has dimensions of 131mm x 100mm x 77mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") with a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs).

Check the Olympus E-PL9 vs Pentax K-3 II in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you are employing at that time. The following is a front view dimensions comparison of the E-PL9 versus the K-3 II.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the E-PL9 and K-3 II is 85 and 59 respectively.

Quite often, it can be tough to visualise the gap in sensor dimensions just by researching specs. The image here should give you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the E-PL9 and K-3 II.

As you can plainly see, both the cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL9 because of its smaller sensor will make getting shallow depth of field tougher and the Pentax K-3 II will render extra detail utilizing its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also let you crop photographs more aggressively. The more recent E-PL9 will have an advantage in sensor technology.