Panasonic G3 has a
16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine FHD processor. On the other hand, Sony A1 has a
50.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm ) sized Stacked CMOS sensor and features Dual Bionz XR processor.
Sony A1's sensor provides 34MP more than Panasonic G3'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 G3 and A1 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Sony A1 has a 3.8x Larger sensor area than Panasonic G3. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
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. Panasonic G3 and Sony A1 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that A1 has a better overall score of 98, 42 points higher compared to G3's score of 56.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Panasonic G3 |
56 |
21.0 bits |
10.6 Evs |
667 ISO |
Sony A1 |
98 |
25.9 bits |
14.5 Evs |
3163 ISO |