Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Sony NEX-3N

Below is a extensive analysis of the Olympus XZ-2 iHS versus Sony NEX-3N, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap between the sensor resolutions of the XZ-2 iHS (12MP) and NEX-3N (16MP) and the XZ-2 iHS (1/1.7") and NEX-3N (APS-C) offer different sensor measurements.

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The XZ-2 iHS was unveiled 2 months prior to the NEX-3N so they are both of a similar age. Each of the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus XZ-2 iHS being a Compact camera and the Sony NEX-3N being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going into a complete comparison, here is a quick introduction of how the XZ-2 iHS matches up versus the NEX-3N when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus XZ-2 iHS & Sony Alpha NEX-3N. The full galleries are provided at Olympus XZ-2 iHS Gallery & Sony NEX-3N Gallery.

For anyone who is going to lug around your camera often, you have to factor its weight and dimensions. The Olympus XZ-2 iHS comes with exterior dimensions of 113mm x 65mm x 48mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.9") accompanied by a weight of 346 grams (0.76 lbs) and the Sony NEX-3N has dimensions of 110mm x 62mm x 35mm (4.3" x 2.4" x 1.4") along with a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Look at the Olympus XZ-2 iHS versus Sony NEX-3N in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you are working with at that moment. Below is a front view dimension comparison of the XZ-2 iHS versus the NEX-3N.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the XZ-2 iHS and NEX-3N is 85 and 89 respectively.

More often than not, it is very hard to visualize the difference between sensor measurements simply by reviewing technical specs. The visual here might provide you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the XZ-2 iHS and NEX-3N.

As you have seen, each of these cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The XZ-2 iHS with its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF more challenging and the Sony NEX-3N will offer you more detail having an extra 4MP. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop photos a good deal more aggressively.