Olympus PEN E-PL3 vs Samsung MV800

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus PEN E-PL3 and the Samsung MV800, 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.

Both cameras were introduced in September 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-PL3 over Samsung MV800.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Samsung MV800 over Olympus PEN E-PL3.

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-PL3 and Samsung MV800 have 3.0" Tilting screens with 460k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes cameras very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Samsung MV800 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 Samsung MV800) 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-PL3.

Olympus PEN E-PL3 features a 12.3 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 200 - 12,800. Samsung MV800 features a 16.15 megapixel 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor with dimensions of 6.17 x 4.55 mm and a total area of 20.7 mm². Its native ISO range is 80 - 3,200.

Olympus PEN E-PL3 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 4:3, 16:9 aspect ratios. Samsung MV800 can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4608 x 3072, 4608 x 2592, 3648 x 2736, 2592 x 1944, 1920 x 1080, 1024 x 768 with 4:3, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in image stabilization. On Olympus PEN E-PL3 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 and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Olympus PEN E-PL3 has a Mini type C HDMI and Samsung MV800 has an HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus PEN E-PL3 comes with BLS-5 battery pack with battery life of 300 shots and Samsung MV800 comes with BP70 battery pack.

External Storage Slots

Olympus PEN E-PL3 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot. Samsung MV800 has a single Micro SD card slot.

Shutter

Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Olympus PEN E-PL3, and up to 1/2000 sec on Samsung MV800. Olympus PEN E-PL3 can shoot continuously up to 5.5 fps.

Flash

Samsung MV800 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 3.20 m. Olympus PEN E-PL3 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/160 sec on Olympus PEN E-PL3.

Olympus PEN E-PL3 body has dimensions of 110 x 64 x 37 mm (4.33 x 2.52 x 1.46") and Samsung MV800 body has dimensions of 92 x 56 x 10 mm (3.62 x 2.2 x 0.39"). Olympus PEN E-PL3 weighs 313 g (0.69 lb / 11.04 oz) and Samsung MV800 weighs 121 g (0.27 lb / 4.27 oz).

Olympus PEN E-PL3

Samsung MV800

110 mm

64 mm

92 mm

56 mm

64 mm

56 mm

37 mm

10 mm