Panasonic GH3 vs Pentax WG-1

Below, we are looking at the Panasonic GH3 and Pentax WG-1, former being a Advanced Mirrorless while the other is a Waterproof by rivals Panasonic and Pentax. The resolution of the GH3 (16MP) and the WG-1 (14MP) is fairly well matched but the GH3 (Four Thirds) and WG-1 (1/2.3") come with different sensor measurements.

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The GH3 was brought out 20 months later than the WG-1 making the cameras a generation apart from each other. The two cameras come with different body type with the Panasonic GH3 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax WG-1 being a Compact camera.

Before diving in to a complete comparison, below is a brief overview of how the GH3 matches up versus the WG-1 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 & Pentax Optio WG-1. The entire galleries are viewable at Panasonic GH3 Gallery & Pentax WG-1 Gallery.

If you're aiming to lug around your camera regularly, you will want to take into account its weight and measurements. The Panasonic GH3 enjoys outside dimensions of 133mm x 93mm x 82mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 3.2") with a weight of 550 grams (1.21 lbs) while the Pentax WG-1 has proportions of 114mm x 58mm x 28mm (4.5" x 2.3" x 1.1") with a weight of 157 grams (0.35 lbs).

Take a look at the Panasonic GH3 and Pentax WG-1 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you use at the time. Below is the front view measurement comparison of the GH3 compared to the WG-1.

Looking at size and weight, the portability score of the GH3 and WG-1 is 66 and 93 respectively.

In many cases, it's difficult to imagine the difference between sensor measurements purely by checking specs. The visual underneath might provide you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the GH3 and WG-1.

As you can plainly see, both of those cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The GH3 because of its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF easier and the Panasonic GH3 will give more detail having its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The fresher GH3 provides an advantage in sensor technology.