Olympus SH-3 vs Panasonic GH2

Lets take a more detailed look at the Olympus SH-3 versus Panasonic GH2, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Advanced Mirrorless by companies Olympus and Panasonic. The sensor resolution of the SH-3 (16MP) and the GH2 (16MP) is fairly close but the SH-3 (1/2.3") and GH2 (Four Thirds) offer totally different sensor dimensions.

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The SH-3 was revealed 4 years later than the GH2 and that is a fairly serious difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Olympus SH-3 being a Compact camera and the Panasonic GH2 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving into a full comparison, here is a quick view of how the SH-3 scores versus the GH2 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus Stylus SH-3 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2. The full galleries are available at Olympus SH-3 Gallery & Panasonic GH2 Gallery.

If you are intending to lug around your camera frequently, you will need to think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus SH-3 comes with external dimensions of 109mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.7") with a weight of 271 grams (0.60 lbs) and the Panasonic GH2 has dimensions of 124mm x 90mm x 76mm (4.9" x 3.5" x 3.0") accompanied by a weight of 442 grams (0.97 lbs).

Check the Olympus SH-3 versus Panasonic GH2 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you have chosen at that moment. Below is a front view measurement comparison of the SH-3 against the GH2.

Considering size and weight, the portability rating of the SH-3 and GH2 is 88 and 70 respectively.

In many cases, its difficult to visualise the difference in sensor measurements just by looking through specs. The graphic underneath should offer you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the SH-3 and GH2.

As you can plainly see, both of these cameras feature the identical MP but not the same sensor measurements. The SH-3 comes with the smaller sensor which should make getting shallow DOF more challenging. The more recent SH-3 is going to have an advantage in sensor innovation.