Olympus E-PL3 has a
12.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Truepic VI processor. On the other hand, Olympus E-PM2 has a
16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor .
Below you can see the E-PL3 and E-PM2 sensor size comparison.
Olympus E-PL3 and Olympus E-PM2 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-PL3 has 30% larger pixel area compared to Olympus E-PM2, it has potential to collect more light on pixel level hence have less noise in low light / High ISO images.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It 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. Olympus E-PL3 and Olympus E-PM2 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that E-PM2 has a better overall score of 72, 20 points higher compared to E-PL3's score of 52.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Olympus E-PL3 |
52 |
20.9 bits |
10.3 Evs |
499 ISO |
Olympus E-PM2 |
72 |
22.7 bits |
12.2 Evs |
932 ISO |