Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 vs. Sony Alpha SLT-A58

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 and Sony Alpha SLT-A58. 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. Sony Alpha SLT-A58 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Product Type Digital camera - mirrorless system Digital camera - SLR with Live View mode, movie recording
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 8.36 cm 9.55 cm
Width 11.52 cm 12.86 cm
Depth 4.67 cm 7.77 cm
Weight 336 g 492 g
Enclosure Colour Black Black
Digital Zoom 2x -
SENSOR Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Sensor Resolution 16.0 Megapixel 20.1 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type Live MOS Exmor APS HD CMOS
Total Pixels 16,680,000 pixels 20,400,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 16,000,000 pixels 20,100,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size Four Thirds (17.3 x 13.0 mm) APS-C (23.2 x 15.4 mm)
Sensor Dust Reduction Yes Yes
Sensor Features Supersonic Wave Filter (SWF) Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), Anti-Dust coating
Image Stabiliser - Optical (SteadyShot INSIDE)
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser - Yes
PROCESSOR Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Image Processor Venus Engine FHD BIONZ
LENS Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Lens Mounting Type Micro Four Thirds -
FOCUSING Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Auto Focus TTL contrast detection TTL phase detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 23 15
Auto Focus Features - Manual Focus Check Live View
AE/AF Control - Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF
Face Detection Yes Face Detection AF/AE/FE/WB, Face Recognition, Smile Shutter
VIEWFINDER Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Viewfinder Type Electronic - LCD Electronic - OLED
Viewfinder Colour Support Colour Colour
Viewfinder Diagonal Size - 0.5"
Viewfinder Resolution 1,440,000 pixels 1,440,000 pixels
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage 100% 100%
Optical Viewfinder Magnification 0.70x 0.88x
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range -4 to +4 -4 to +4
Field of View Crop Factor 2 1.5
Features - Auto eye sensor
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
ISO (Max) 6400 16000
Light Sensitivity ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200, ISO 160, ISO 1600, ISO 6400, ISO 3200, ISO auto ISO auto, ISO 100-16000
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot
Exposure Metering Zones 144 1200
Exposure Modes Programme, bulb, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority
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 Landscape, portrait mode, macro, night portrait, sports mode, sunset, handheld twilight, Night View
Special Effects Vivid, Custom Effect, natural, monochrome, portrait, Scenery Black & White, Vivid, sunset, soft focus, landscape, portrait, miniature, Retro, partial colour, Toy camera, Posterisation, High contrast monochrome, Pop Colour, HDR Painting, Rich-tone monochrome, Soft High-key
White Balance Custom, automatic, presets Custom, automatic, presets
White Balance Presets Incandescent, cloudy, Flash, daylight, shade, 2500K - 10000K (100K steps) Incandescent, cloudy, Flash, daylight, shade, fluorescent light (cool white), fluorescent light (daylight), fluorescent light (warm white), 2500K - 9900K, fluorescent light (daylight white)
Max Shutter Speed 1/4000 sec 1/4000 sec
Min Shutter Speed 60 sec 30 sec
Exposure Compensation ±5 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps ±3 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
Auto Exposure Bracketing - 5 steps in 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 2 or 3 EV steps
White Balance Bracketing Yes Yes
X-sync Speed 1/160 sec 1/160 sec
Exposure Range EV 0-18 (ISO 100) EV -2-17 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Type 3" LCD display 2.7" LCD display
Touch Screen Yes -
Display Format 460,000 pixels 460,800 pixels
Display Form Factor Rotating Folding
Display Features Display brightness control, display colour control Contrast control, display brightness control
FLASH Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Camera Flash Pop-up flash Pop-up flash
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 10.5 10
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 AF illuminator, flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control, flash exposure bracketing
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Digital Video Format MJPEG, AVCHD AVCHD, H.264
Image Recording Format JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG, MPO JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG
Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Surround Sound - Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording
Microphone Operation Mode Stereo Stereo
Microphone Features Wind noise reduction, sensitivity control -
MEMORY Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Memory Card Slot SD card Memory Stick PRO Duo card, SD card
Supported Memory Cards SD Memory Card, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card SD Memory Card, Memory Stick PRO Duo, SDXC Memory Card, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX, SDHC Memory Card, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo
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
5456 x 3632
3872 x 2576
2736 x 1824
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
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 - 50 fps - 24Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 - 50 fps - 17Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 - 25 fps - 24Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 - 25 fps - 17Mbps
H.264 - 1440 x 1080 - 25 fps - 12Mbps
BATTERY AND CHARGING Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Battery Type Lithium Ion - manufacturer-specific Sony NP-FM500H Lithium Ion
Details 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery - 1010 mAh (included) Sony NP-FM500H Li-ion rechargeable battery - 1600 mAh (included)
Battery Life - Photo shooting - 690 shots (EVF on)
Photo shooting - 700 shots (LCD Monitor on)
CONNECTIONS Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Interface Composite video/audio, HDMI, USB 2.0 HDMI, USB 2.0
Print Standard Direct print, DPOF support, Exif Print support, PictBridge support DPOF support, Exif Print support, PRINT Image Matching
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe
Connector Type USB 2.0
Composite video/audio output
HDMI output
Remote control
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
USB 2.0 (5 pin Micro-USB Type B)
Microphone (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
FEATURES Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Self-Timer Delay 10 sec, 2sec 10 sec, 2sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 2 frames per second, 4 frames per second, 3 frames per second, 20 frames per second (4MP) 8 frames per second
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 RGB primary colour filter, depth-of-field preview button, sharpness control, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, saturation control, Sweep Panorama technology, shadow point display, highlight point display, Dynamic Range Optimizer, built-in help guide, automatic display brightness adjustment, Multi-Frame Noise Reduction, Intelligent AUTO (iAUTO), AUTO+ (Advanced AUTO) mode, Superior Auto mode, noise reduction over long exposures, high ISO speed noise reduction, BRAVIA Sync function, Auto Object Framing, Translucent Mirror technology
OTHERS Panasonic Lumix G DMC-G3 Sony Alpha SLT-A58
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable, pen stylus, audio / video cable Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, eyecup, micro-USB cable
Software Drivers & Utilities, SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.1 SE, Loilo Super Loiloscope, Panasonic PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.2 HD Edition Sony PlayMemories Home, Sony Image Data Converter 4.0
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature 0 °C 0 °C
Service & Support - Limited warranty - 1 year
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