Olympus E-3 vs Samsung HZ15W

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus E-3 and the Samsung HZ15W, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Olympus E-3 was introduced in February 2008 and Samsung HZ15W was introduced in February 2009. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus E-3 over Samsung HZ15W.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Samsung HZ15W over Olympus E-3.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Olympus E-3 has a 2.5" Fully Articulated screen with 230k dot resolution and Samsung HZ15W has a 3.0" Fixed screen with 460k dot resolution. Fully articulated screen makes Olympus E-3 selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting.

Optical (pentaprism) Viewfinder on Olympus E-3

Olympus E-3 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. It has a 100% coverage and 1.15x (0.58x 35mm equivalent) magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Samsung HZ15W.

Olympus E-3 features a 10.0 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 224.9 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 3,200. Samsung HZ15W features a 12.2 megapixel 1/2.33-inch CCD sensor with dimensions of 6.08 x 4.56 mm and a total area of 20.8 mm². Its native ISO range is 80 - 3,200.

Olympus E-3 is equipped with TruePic III processor and can take pictures up to 3648 x 2736 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3200 x 2400, 2560 x 1920, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480 with 4:3 aspect ratios. Samsung HZ15W can take pictures up to 4000 x 3000 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4000 x 2654, 4000 x 2248, 3264 x 2592 x 1944, 2048 x 1536, 1920 x 1080, 1024 x 768 with 16:9, 4:3, 3:2 aspect ratios.

Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in image stabilization. On Olympus E-3 it means that you are still getting vibration reduction when it is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

USB Inputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer.

Battery

Samsung HZ15W comes with SLB-10A battery pack.

External Storage Slots

Olympus E-3 has a single Compact Flash (Type I/II), xD Picture Card card slot. Samsung HZ15W has a single SC/SDHC/MMC/MMCplus card slot.

Shutter

Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Olympus E-3, and up to 1/2000 sec on Samsung HZ15W. Olympus E-3 can shoot continuously up to 5.0 fps.

Flash

Cameras have built-in flash with maximum range of 13.00 m on Olympus E-3 and 4.70 m on Samsung HZ15W. Olympus E-3 also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Olympus E-3.

Olympus E-3 body has dimensions of 142 x 116 x 75 mm (5.59 x 4.57 x 2.95") and Samsung HZ15W body has dimensions of 105 x 61 x 37 mm (4.13 x 2.4 x 1.46"). Olympus E-3 weighs 890 g (1.96 lb / 31.39 oz) and Samsung HZ15W weighs 249 g (0.55 lb / 8.78 oz).

Olympus E-3

Samsung HZ15W

142 mm

116 mm

105 mm

61 mm

116 mm

61 mm