Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 vs. Olympus PEN E-PL9

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 and Olympus PEN E-PL9. Compare design, sensors, proximity features, memory capacities and other important specifications and features to easily choose the right camera for you. Our goal is to help you uncover differences between the products and find the digital camera that will best fit your needs.

Camera Specifications Comparison

Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 vs. Olympus PEN E-PL9 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Product Type Digital camera - mirrorless system Digital camera - 4K - mirrorless system
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 8.36 cm 6.8 cm
Width 11.52 cm 11.71 cm
Depth 4.67 cm 3.9 cm
Weight 336 g 332 g
Weight Details - Camera body only: 332 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 380 g
Enclosure Colour Black White | Brown | Black
Digital Zoom 2x -
SENSOR Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Sensor Resolution 16.0 Megapixel 16.1 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type Live MOS Live MOS
Total Pixels 16,680,000 pixels 17,200,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 16,000,000 pixels 16,100,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size Four Thirds (17.3 x 13.0 mm) Four Thirds (17.3 x 13.0 mm)
Frame Rate (Max Resolution) - 30 fps
Sensor Dust Reduction Yes Yes
Sensor Features Supersonic Wave Filter (SWF) Supersonic Wave Filter (SWF)
Image Stabiliser - Optical (3-axis image sensor shift mechanism)
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser - Yes
PROCESSOR Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Image Processor Venus Engine FHD -
LENS Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Lens Mounting Type Micro Four Thirds Micro Four Thirds
FOCUSING Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Auto Focus TTL contrast detection TTL contrast detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 23 121
Auto Focus Features - Focus Peaking function
AE/AF Control - Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF, Touch Area AF, Eye detection AF, Eye priority AF
Face Detection Yes Eye Detect AF
VIEWFINDER Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Viewfinder Type Electronic - LCD -
Viewfinder Colour Support Colour -
Viewfinder Resolution 1,440,000 pixels -
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage 100% -
Optical Viewfinder Magnification 0.70x -
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range -4 to +4 -
Field of View Crop Factor 2 -
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
ISO (Max) 6400 25600
Native ISO - 100-6400
Extended ISO (Max) - 25600
Light Sensitivity ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200, ISO 160, ISO 1600, ISO 6400, ISO 3200, ISO auto ISO 100-25600, ISO auto (100-25600)
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, highlight spot, shadow spot
Exposure Metering Zones 144 324
Exposure Modes Programme, bulb, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority
Bracketing Modes - Focus bracketing
Shooting Programs Portrait mode, party/indoor, night portrait, PET, scenery, food, illumination snap, flower, night scene, sports mode, sunset, soft skin, baby1, baby2, peripheral defocus, architecture -
Special Effects Vivid, Custom Effect, natural, monochrome, portrait, Scenery Monotone, Vivid, Custom Effect, soft focus, natural, Muted, Water Colour, Diorama, Cross Process, partial colour, Grainy Film, Light Tone, Pop Art, Pale & Light Colour, pin hole, Gentle Sepia, i-Enhance, Dramatic Tone, Bleach Bypass, High Key, Low Key, Key Line, Vintage, Instant Film, e-Portrait
White Balance Custom, automatic, presets Custom, automatic, presets
White Balance Presets Incandescent, cloudy, Flash, daylight, shade, 2500K - 10000K (100K steps) -
Shutter Type - Mechanical
Max Shutter Speed 1/4000 sec 1/16000 sec
Min Shutter Speed 60 sec 60 sec
Exposure Compensation ±5 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps ±5 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
Auto Exposure Bracketing - 3 steps in 1 EV steps, 5 steps in 2/3 EV steps
White Balance Bracketing Yes -
X-sync Speed 1/160 sec -
Exposure Range EV 0-18 (ISO 100) EV -2-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Type 3" LCD display 3" LCD display
Touch Screen Yes Yes
Display Format 460,000 pixels 1,040,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Rotating Folding
Display Features Display brightness control, display colour control Display brightness control, display colour control
FLASH Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Camera Flash Pop-up flash Pop-up flash
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 10.5 5.4
Flash Modes Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction
Red-Eye Reduction Yes Yes
Features AF illuminator, flash +/- compensation Flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Digital Video Format MJPEG, AVCHD AVI, MJPEG, H.264, MOV
Image Recording Format JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG, MPO JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG
Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 3840 x 2160
Audio Signal Format - Linear PCM, WAV
Microphone Operation Mode Stereo Stereo
Microphone Features Wind noise reduction, sensitivity control Wind noise reduction, sensitivity control
MEMORY Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Memory Card Slot SD card SD card
Supported Memory Cards SD Memory Card, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card SD Memory Card, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, SDHC UHS-I Memory Card, SDXC UHS-I Memory Card
Memory Card Included - No
Image Storage JPEG 4592 x 3448
JPEG 4576 x 3056
JPEG 4576 x 2576
JPEG 3232 x 2424
JPEG 3232 x 2160
JPEG 3232 x 1824
JPEG 2272 x 1704
JPEG 2272 x 1520
JPEG 1920 x 1080
JPEG 1824 x 1368
JPEG 1824 x 1216
JPEG 1824 x 1024
JPEG 3424 x 3424
JPEG 2416 x 2416
JPEG 1712 x 1712
RAW 4608 x 3456
JPEG 4608 x 3456
JPEG 3200 x 2400
JPEG 1280 x 960
Video Capture AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 - 60 fps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 - 50 fps
AVCHD - 1280 x 720 - 60 fps
AVCHD - 1280 x 720 - 50 fps
MJPEG - 848 x 480 - 30 fps
MJPEG - 640 x 480 - 30 fps
MJPEG - 320 x 240 - 30 fps
MOV - 3840 x 2160 p
MOV - 1920 x 1080 p
MOV - 1280 x 720 p
BATTERY AND CHARGING Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Battery Type Lithium Ion - manufacturer-specific Olympus BLS-50 Lithium Ion
Details 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery - 1010 mAh (included) Olympus BLS-50 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included)
Battery Life - Photo shooting - 350 shots
Video recording - 2.5 hours
CONNECTIONS Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Interface Composite video/audio, HDMI, USB 2.0 HDMI, USB 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Connectivity Features - Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view, QR code scanning
Print Standard Direct print, DPOF support, Exif Print support, PictBridge support Exif Print support
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe
Connector Type USB 2.0
Composite video/audio output
HDMI output
Remote control
USB 2.0 (5 pin Micro-USB Type B)
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
FEATURES Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Self-Timer Delay 10 sec, 2sec 2sec, 12sec, 1 - 30 sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 2 frames per second, 4 frames per second, 3 frames per second, 20 frames per second (4MP) 4.3 frames per second, 6.1 frames per second, 8.6 frames per second, 4.8 frames per second, 14.1 frames per second
HDR Mode - Auto HDR mode, HDR post-processing
Additional Features Audio recording, built-in speaker, RGB primary colour filter, date/time stamp, digital image rotation, histogram display, in-camera red-eye removal, cropping an image, resizing an image, Scene Detection Technology, Intelligent Scene Selector, Object Detection, AF/AE tracking, Intelligent Resolution Technology, face detection, Motion Detection Technology, Full-time Live View, Face Recognition, Dolby Digital Stereo Creator, Intelligent Auto (iA), Intelligent D-range Control Audio recording, built-in speaker, RGB primary colour filter, auto power save, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, in-camera red-eye removal, cropping an image, resizing an image, shadow point display, highlight point display, in-camera film editing, in-camera RAW processing, Full-time Live View, Eye-Fi Card Ready, high-speed recording, Time-Lapse recording
OTHERS Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable, pen stylus, audio / video cable Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable
Software Drivers & Utilities, SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.1 SE, Loilo Super Loiloscope, Panasonic PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.2 HD Edition -
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature 0 °C 0 °C
Service & Support - Limited warranty - 2 years
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