Olympus PEN E-P1 vs Sony Alpha NEX-3

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PEN E-P1 compared with Alpha NEX-3

	OlympusPEN E-P1	SonyAlpha NEX-3
Overview
Released
Released	July 2009	June 2010
Image and sensor
Camera type
Camera type	Mirrorless	Mirrorless
Sensor format
Sensor format	Four Thirds	APS-C
Sensor type
Sensor type	High-speed Live MOS	Exmor APS HD CMOS
Sensor dimensions
Sensor dimensions	17.3 × 13 mm	23.4 × 15.6 mm
Effective resolution
Effective resolution	12.3 MP	14.2 MP
Largest image
Largest image	4032 × 3024	4592 × 3056
RAW recording
RAW recording	Yes	Yes
Standard ISO range
Standard ISO range	100–6400	200–12800
Sensor detail
Sensor detail	4/3-type Live MOS; approximately 13.1 million total photosites, 4:3 aspect ratio; Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction	Charge-protection coating and electromagnetic vibration of the optical low-pass filter for dust reduction
Image formats
Image formats	12-bit losslessly compressed RAW, JPEG and RAW+JPEG; sRGB and Adobe RGB. Aspect options 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and 6:6; JPEG cropped to selected ratio while RAW records aspect metadata	JPEG, RAW and RAW+JPEG; Sony's Japanese launch table specifies ARW 2.2
ISO detail
ISO detail	Manual ISO 100–6400 in 1/3 or 1 EV steps; automatic ISO 200–6400 customisable, default 200–1600	Standard ISO 200–12800; Auto ISO 200–1600
Image processor
Image processor	TruePic V	BIONZ
Lens and shooting
Lens mount
Lens mount	Micro Four Thirds	Sony E-mount
Stabilisation
Stabilisation	Sensor shift	Optical lens stabilisation
Maximum continuous burst
Maximum continuous burst	3 fps	7 fps
Lens detail
Lens detail	Lens kit includes M.Zuiko Digital ED 14–42mm F3.5–5.6; pancake kit 17mm F2.8 and VF-1 optical finder. These interchangeable kit lenses are not built-in camera specifications	Launch kits contain E 16mm F2.8 and/or E 18–55mm F3.5–5.6 OSS. The original LA-EA1 adapter supports A-mount lenses with manual focusing at launch; later firmware is separate.
Autofocus
Autofocus	Eleven-area contrast-detection High-Speed Imager AF; single AF, continuous AF, manual focus and single AF plus manual override. Live View magnification 7× or 10×. Adapted Four Thirds lenses operate single AF when continuous AF is selected	Contrast detection; 25-point multipoint, centre or flexible-spot areas; single or continuous autofocus, direct manual focus and manual focus
Shutter
Shutter	Electronically controlled focal-plane shutter, 60–1/4000 second; Bulb up to 30 minutes, default eight minutes. Optional RM-UC1 wired remote supports Bulb control; Anti-Shock delay 1/8–30 seconds	Electronically controlled vertical-traverse focal-plane shutter; 30 seconds to 1/4000 second plus Bulb; flash sync 1/160 second
Burst detail
Burst detail	Maker continuous rate approximately 3 fps. Buffer approximately 10 RAW or 12 large-normal JPEG under maker conditions with Toshiba Super High Speed Class 6 4 GB card; JPEG count depends on resolution and compression	Approximately 7 fps in Speed Priority Continuous, with focus and exposure fixed at the first frame; approximately 2.3 fps normal continuous advance
Stabilisation detail
Stabilisation detail	Sensor shift for stills, with normal and horizontal/vertical panning modes and manual focal-length input for adapted lenses. Maker claims up to 4 EV depending on lens and shooting conditions. Movie mode uses electronic correction with a slight crop	No sensor-shift stabilisation (PhotographyBlog); optical correction requires a compatible OSS lens. The 18–55mm kit lens has OSS, while the 16mm does not.
Flash
Flash	No built-in flash; hot shoe supports FL-50R, FL-36R, FL-20 and FL-14. Flash synchronisation 1/180 second or slower; external flash compensation ±3 EV	Supplied detachable flash; guide number 7 at ISO 100 in metres; approximately four-second recycle time
Exposure controls
Exposure controls	iAUTO, Program with shift, aperture priority, shutter priority, Manual, scene modes and six Art Filters. 324-zone digital ESP, centre-weighted and spot metering with highlight/shadow options; ±3 EV compensation. Two-axis level gauge; two My Mode settings	Intelligent Auto, program, aperture priority, shutter priority and manual; Sweep Panorama, DRO, three-exposure Auto HDR and six-exposure Hand-held Twilight or Anti Motion Blur
Video
Highest video resolution
Highest video resolution	1280 × 720 at 30 fps	1280 × 720 at 30 fps
Video detail
Video detail	AVI Motion JPEG at 30 fps: 1280 × 720, 16:9, or 640 × 480, 4:3. Maximum individual recording approximately seven minutes HD or fourteen minutes VGA. Certain Art Filters lower the frame rate	MP4 with MPEG-4 Visual compression; 1280 × 720 at 30p in Fine or Standard quality, or 640 × 480 at 30p. These are the NEX-3 figures in Sony's Japanese announcement; AVCHD Full HD belongs to the NEX-5.
Audio
Audio	Built-in stereo microphone and mono playback speaker. Stereo linear PCM, 16-bit 44.1 kHz, WAVE format; still-photo audio recording up to thirty seconds	Built-in stereo microphone; MPEG-4 AAC-LC audio; optional ECM-SST1 accessory microphone
Screen and viewfinder
Viewfinder
Viewfinder	None	None
Screen size
Screen size	3″	3″
Screen dots
Screen dots	230,000	921,600
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	–	No
Tilting screen
Tilting screen	No	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	Fixed HyperCrystal LCD with 100% Live View coverage, ±7-step brightness and colour-temperature adjustment	TruBlack wide TFT; tilts approximately 80° up and 45° down; no touchscreen (PhotographyBlog)
Viewfinder detail
Viewfinder detail	No built-in finder; optional VF-1 optical finder supplied with the 17mm pancake kit uses the hot shoe, so cannot be fitted simultaneously with a shoe-mounted flash	No built-in viewfinder (PhotographyBlog); optional FDA-SV1 optical finder is designed for the E 16mm lens
Connections and design
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	300 photographs	330 photographs
Body weight
Body weight	335 g	239 g (better)
Release detail
Release detail	Olympus support dates E-P1 to July 2009. The Japanese 16 June announcement schedules lens and pancake kits for 3 July, and made-to-order body-only versions for late July; month precision represents the model rather than assigning the kit day to every configuration	Sony Japan specifies 10 June 2010 for NEX-3A, NEX-3K and NEX-3D kits. This is the original NEX-3, not the NEX-C3, F3 or 3N.
Recording media
Recording media	SD and SDHC memory cards	Memory Stick PRO Duo and PRO-HG Duo; SD, SDHC and SDXC
Ports
Ports	Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and selectable NTSC/PAL analogue AV through proprietary multi-connector; same connector accepts RM-UC1 wired remote. Mini HDMI Type C provides HD video and stereo audio; flash hot shoe	–
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	BLS-1 rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Maker CIPA claim approximately 300 photographs using BLS-1 and Toshiba Class 6 4 GB SDHC card	NP-FW50; approximately 330 photographs under CIPA conditions
Charging
Charging	–	Supplied BC-VW1 external charger
Dimensions
Dimensions	120.5 × 70 × 35 mm (width × height × depth), excluding protrusions	Approximately 117.2 × 62.6 × 33.4 mm (width × height × depth), excluding protrusions; Sony's separate 25.4 mm thinnest-section figure excludes the grip and mount
Weight detail
Weight detail	Approximately 335 g body only, excluding battery, card and lens	Approximately 239 g camera only; 297 g including battery and Memory Stick PRO Duo; lens excluded
Materials
Materials	Metal exterior; silver version has hairline finishing	–
Colours
Colours	Silver and white	Black, red or white; silver was a Sony Style exclusive in Japan
In the box
In the box	–	NP-FW50 battery, BC-VW1 charger, USB cable, detachable flash and case, shoulder strap, lens cap and software CD; lenses depend on kit