Olympus VH-515 vs Panasonic G3

Its time to take a more detailed look at the Olympus VH-515 and Panasonic G3, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by manufacturers Olympus and Panasonic. There is a substantial difference among the image resolutions of the VH-515 (12MP) and G3 (16MP) and the VH-515 (1/2.3") and G3 (Four Thirds) have different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The VH-515 was manufactured 14 months later than the G3 which makes them a generation apart from each other. Each of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus VH-515 being a Compact camera and the Panasonic G3 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera.

Before going into a full comparison, here is a short overview of how the VH-515 grades vs the G3 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus VH-515 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3. The entire galleries are provided at Olympus VH-515 Gallery & Panasonic G3 Gallery.

For those who are going to lug around your camera, you're going to have to factor its weight and proportions. The Olympus VH-515 comes with outside measurements of 102mm x 60mm x 21mm (4.0" x 2.4" x 0.8") along with a weight of 152 grams (0.34 lbs) and the Panasonic G3 has measurements of 115mm x 84mm x 47mm (4.5" x 3.3" x 1.9") with a weight of 336 grams (0.74 lbs).

Check the Olympus VH-515 and Panasonic G3 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you choose at that moment. Following is a front view dimension comparison of the VH-515 versus the G3.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability score of the VH-515 and G3 is 95 and 83 respectively.

Oftentimes, its hard to picture the contrast in sensor measurements just by checking out technical specs. The photograph here may offer you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the VH-515 and G3.

As you can tell, both the cameras feature different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The VH-515 featuring a smaller sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field trickier and the Panasonic G3 will show greater detail due to its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also make it easier to crop photographs way more aggressively. The more modern VH-515 provides an advantage when it comes to sensor technology.