Olympus PEN E-P1 vs Olympus PEN E-P3

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus PEN E-P1 and the Olympus PEN E-P3, 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 PEN E-P1 was introduced in July 2009 and Olympus PEN E-P3 was introduced in August 2011. 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 PEN E-P1 over Olympus PEN E-P3.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus PEN E-P3 over Olympus PEN E-P1.

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 PEN E-P1 and Olympus PEN E-P3 have 3.0" Fixed screens with 230k dot and 614k dot resolutions respectively. Olympus PEN E-P3 also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality (available only on Olympus PEN E-P3) allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Camera does not have a built-in viewfinder but an optional electronic viewfinder can be attached on Olympus PEN E-P3.

Olympus PEN E-P1 features a 12 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 - 6,400. Olympus PEN E-P3 features a 12.3 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 12,800.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Olympus PEN E-P1 is equipped with TruePic V processor and can take pictures up to 4032 x 3024 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3200 x 2400, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480 with 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios. Olympus PEN E-P3 is equipped with TruePic VI processor and can take pictures up to 4032 x 3024 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 3:2, 4:3, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Cameras have Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to their Micro Four Thirds sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 2x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 2.

In-Body Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when cameras are 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 and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Olympus PEN E-P1 has a Mini type C HDMI and Olympus PEN E-P3 has a Mini type C HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus PEN E-P1 comes with BLS-1 battery pack with battery life of 300 shots and Olympus PEN E-P3 comes with BLS-5 battery pack with battery life of 330 shots.

External Storage Slots

Olympus PEN E-P1 has a single SD/SDHC card slot. Olympus PEN E-P3 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Olympus PEN E-P1, and up to 1/4000 sec on Olympus PEN E-P3. Cameras can shoot continuously up to 3.0 fps.

Flash

Olympus PEN E-P3 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 10.00 m (@ ISO 200) and also accepts external flash. Olympus PEN E-P1 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/180 sec on both cameras.

Olympus PEN E-P1 body has dimensions of 121 x 70 x 36 mm (4.76 x 2.76 x 1.42") and Olympus PEN E-P3 body has dimensions of 122 x 69 x 34 mm (4.8 x 2.72 x 1.34"). Olympus PEN E-P1 weighs 355 g (0.78 lb / 12.52 oz) and Olympus PEN E-P3 weighs 369 g (0.81 lb / 13.02 oz).

Olympus PEN E-P1

Olympus PEN E-P3

121 mm

70 mm

122 mm

69 mm

70 mm

69 mm

36 mm

34 mm