Olympus E-PL9 vs Sony A3000

Below is a extended assessment of the Olympus E-PL9 vs Sony A3000, both Entry-Level Mirrorless cameras by competitors Olympus and Sony. The image resolution of the E-PL9 (16MP) and the A3000 (20MP) is very comparable but the E-PL9 (Four Thirds) and A3000 (APS-C) have totally different sensor sizing.

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The E-PL9 was announced 4 years later than the A3000 and that is a fairly significant difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-PL9 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A3000 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera.

Before delving straight to a more detailed comparison, here is a brief highlight of how the E-PL9 grades versus the A3000 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-PL9 & Sony Alpha A3000. The whole galleries are provided at Olympus E-PL9 Gallery & Sony A3000 Gallery.

For those who are going to lug around your camera frequently, you will want to think about its weight and volume. The Olympus E-PL9 has got physical dimensions of 117mm x 68mm x 39mm (4.6" x 2.7" x 1.5") having a weight of 380 grams (0.84 lbs) and the Sony A3000 has sizing of 128mm x 91mm x 85mm (5.0" x 3.6" x 3.3") having a weight of 411 grams (0.91 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-PL9 vs Sony A3000 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you select at the time. Following is a front view proportions comparison of the E-PL9 compared to the A3000.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the E-PL9 and A3000 is 85 and 69 respectively.

Often, its hard to visualise the contrast in sensor measurements only by seeing specs. The visual underneath should provide you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the E-PL9 and A3000.

As you can plainly see, each of these cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The E-PL9 using its smaller sensor will make achieving shallow DOF tougher and the Sony A3000 will produce extra detail with its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop pics a good deal more aggressively. The newer E-PL9 will have a benefit with regard to sensor innovation.