Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 vs Olympus PEN E-PL6

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 and the Olympus PEN E-PL6, 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.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 was introduced in August 2011 and Olympus PEN E-PL6 was introduced in August 2014. 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 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 over Olympus PEN E-PL6.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus PEN E-PL6 over Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3.

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

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 and Olympus PEN E-PL6 have 3.0" screens with 460k dot resolution. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 has a Fixed screen Olympus PEN E-PL6 has a Tilting screen which makes it very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality 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-PL6.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 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 160 - 6,400. Olympus PEN E-PL6 features a 16 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 - 25,600.

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

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 is equipped with Venus Engine FHD processor and can take pictures up to 4000 x 3000 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4000 x 3000, 4000 x 2672, 4000 x 2248, 2992 x 2992, 2816 x 2112, 2816 x 1880, 2816 x 1584, 2112 x 2112, 2048 x 1536, 2048 x 1360, 1920 x 1080, 1600 x 1200, 1600 x 1064, 1600 x 904, 1504 x 1504 with 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios. Olympus PEN E-PL6 is equipped with TruePic VI processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 2560 x 1920, 1024 x 768 with 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 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 on Olympus PEN E-PL6

Olympus PEN E-PL6 has a built-in Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera 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. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 has a Mini TypeC HDMI and Olympus PEN E-PL6 has a Mini type C HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus PEN E-PL6 comes with BLS-5 battery pack with battery life of 360 shots.

External Storage Slots

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot. Olympus PEN E-PL6 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3, and up to 1/4000 sec on Olympus PEN E-PL6. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 can shoot continuously up to 3.2 fps. Olympus PEN E-PL6 can shoot continuously up to 8.0 fps.

Flash

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 6.30 m. Olympus PEN E-PL6 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 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 body has dimensions of 108 x 67 x 32 mm (4.25 x 2.64 x 1.26") and Olympus PEN E-PL6 body has dimensions of 111 x 64 x 38 mm (4.37 x 2.52 x 1.5"). Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 weighs 264 g (0.58 lb / 9.31 oz) and Olympus PEN E-PL6 weighs 325 g (0.72 lb / 11.46 oz).

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3

Olympus PEN E-PL6

108 mm

67 mm

111 mm

64 mm

67 mm

64 mm

32 mm

38 mm