Panasonic GH3 vs Sony A6500

In this article, we are evaluating the Panasonic GH3 versus Sony A6500, both Advanced Mirrorless cameras by rivals Panasonic and Sony. There exists a big gap among the image resolutions of the GH3 (16MP) and A6500 (24MP) and the GH3 (Four Thirds) and A6500 (APS-C) come with different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The GH3 was unveiled 5 years earlier than the A6500 and that is a fairly big gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras offer different body type with the Panasonic GH3 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A6500 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting in to a complete comparison, below is a brief overview of how the GH3 scores versus the A6500 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 and Sony Alpha a6500. The full galleries are provided at Panasonic GH3 Gallery and Sony A6500 Gallery.

When you are intending to lug around your camera often, you'll have to factor in its weight and size. The Panasonic GH3 has got 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) and the Sony A6500 has specifications of 120mm x 67mm x 53mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 2.1") having a weight of 453 grams (1.00 lbs).

Check the Panasonic GH3 versus Sony A6500 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you are utilizing at that time. Below is the front view proportions comparison of the GH3 against the A6500.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the GH3 and A6500 is 66 and 81 respectively.

More often than not, it is very difficult to visualize the gap in sensor measurements purely by viewing a spec sheet. The visual underneath should provide you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the GH3 and A6500.

Clearly, both of these cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The GH3 using its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field harder and the Sony A6500 will render more detail having an extra 8MP. Greater resolution will also enable you to crop pics far more aggressively. The older GH3 will be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.