Olympus E-M1 has a
16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features TruePIC VII processor. On the other hand, Olympus E-3 has a
10.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features TruePic III processor.
Olympus E-M1's sensor provides 6MP more than Olympus E-3's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Below you can see the E-M1 and E-3 sensor size comparison.
Olympus E-M1 and Olympus E-3 have the same sensor sizes so they will provide same level of control over the depth of field when used with same focal length and aperture. On the other hand, since Olympus E-3 has 59% larger pixel area (22.54µm2 vs 14.12µm2) compared to Olympus E-M1, it has larger pixel area to collect light hence potential to have less noise in low light / High ISO images.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
Both Olympus E-M1 and Olympus E-3 sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, E-M1 has scored 73, 17 points higher than E-3.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Olympus E-M1 |
73 |
23.0 bits |
12.7 Evs |
757 ISO |
Olympus E-3 |
56 |
21.6 bits |
10.5 Evs |
571 ISO |