Panasonic FH8 vs Panasonic GF3

Its time to look more closely at the Panasonic FH8 versus Panasonic GF3, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and both are designed by Panasonic. There exists a noticeable gap between the image resolutions of the FH8 (16MP) and GF3 (12MP) and the FH8 (1/2.3") and GF3 (Four Thirds) offer different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The FH8 was introduced 6 months after the GF3 and they are of a similar age. Both of the cameras have different body design with the Panasonic FH8 being a Compact camera and the Panasonic GF3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going straight to a thorough comparison, here is a concise synopsis of how the FH8 grades against the GF3 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH8 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3. The whole galleries are available at Panasonic FH8 Gallery & Panasonic GF3 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to travel with your camera, you need to factor in its weight and volume. The Panasonic FH8 features outside dimensions of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") along with a weight of 123 grams (0.27 lbs) while the Panasonic GF3 has sizing of 108mm x 67mm x 32mm (4.3" x 2.6" x 1.3") with a weight of 264 grams (0.58 lbs).

See the Panasonic FH8 versus Panasonic GF3 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you select at the time. Following is a front view scale comparison of the FH8 and the GF3.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the FH8 and GF3 is 96 and 90 respectively.

More often than not, it is difficult to visualize the contrast between sensor dimensions purely by looking at a spec sheet. The pic below should offer you a clearer sense of the sensor sizes in the FH8 and GF3.

Clearly, each of the cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The FH8 having a tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field more challenging and the Panasonic FH8 will resolve extra detail using its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop pics a bit more aggressively.