Sony A55 has a
16.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz processor. On the other hand, Olympus E-PL3 has a
12.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Truepic VI processor.
Below you can see the A55 and E-PL3 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Sony A55 has a 1.6x Larger sensor area than Olympus E-PL3. 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
Both Sony A55 and Olympus E-PL3 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, A55 has scored 73, 21 points higher than E-PL3.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Sony A55 |
73 |
23.0 bits |
12.4 Evs |
816 ISO |
Olympus E-PL3 |
52 |
20.9 bits |
10.3 Evs |
499 ISO |