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Olympus PEN E-PL3 compare (with 17mm lens, Black)

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Product Olympus PEN E-PL3 (with 17mm lens, Black) Sony Alpha NEX-6 (with 16-50mm PZ lens) Editors' choice Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Editors' choice Canon EOS Rebel T3i (with 18-55mm IS II lens) Canon PowerShot SX260 HS (Black)
Price $379.00 to $599.00 $898.00 to $1,254.99 $599.95 to $649.99 $599.00 to $848.00 $229.99 to $325.99
CNET editors' rating 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 3.5 stars 4 stars
Average user rating 4.5 stars 5 stars 4.5 stars 4.5 stars 4 stars
Release date September 15, 2011 Info unavailable Info unavailable March 7, 2011 March 1, 2012
Bottom line
While it's not the best in any particular aspect, and you probably don't want to use it for video, the Olympus PEN E-PL3 offers an excellent balance of size, features, performance, and photo quality for the money.
The Sony Alpha NEX-6 delivers an as-yet-unbeatable package of image quality, performance, and design, even for its rather high price.
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100's compact, elegant design, generally excellent photo quality, bright, fast lens, and speedy performance make a great package if you don't mind spending a little more money.
For the money, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i is a great choice for dSLR videographers--though the cheaper T2i can still suffice if you don't need the articulated LCD--and it's a solid choice for creative still shooters. But though the image quality and general shooting performance are top-notch, if you're upgrading to capture sports, kids, or pets, the T3i may not be able to keep up.
The Canon PowerShot SX260 HS' wider, longer lens, a few much-needed design tweaks, and excellent photo quality add up to one pretty great compact megazoom.
Type

LCD display - TFT active matrix - 3 in - Color

LCD display - 3 in

TFT activematrix - Color

LCD display - 3 in

LCD display - TFT active matrix - 3 in - Color

TFT active matrix - Color

LCD display - 3 in
Product Type

Digital camera - Mirrorless system

Digital camera - Mirrorless system

Digital camera - Compact

Digital camera - SLR with Live View mode

with Movie recording

Digital camera - Compact
Light sensitivity

ISO 200-12800

ISO auto (200-12800)

ISO auto (100-3200)

ISO 100-25600

ISO 3200

ISO 125

ISO auto (125-6400)

ISO 1600

ISO 800

ISO 200

ISO 6400

ISO 400

ISO auto (100-6400)

ISO 100-6400

ISO 12800

ISO 3200

ISO 1600

ISO 800

ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO auto
Optical sensor type

Live MOS

Exmor APS HD CMOS

Exmor CMOS

CMOS

BSI-CMOS
Dimensions (W x D x H)

4.3 in x 1.5 in x 2.5 in

4.7 in x 1.7 in x 2.6 in

4 in x 1.4 in x 2.3 in

5.2 in x 3.1 in x 3.9 in

4.2 in x 1.3 in x 2.4 in
Weight

9.3 oz

10.1 oz

7.5 oz

18.2 oz

7.3 oz
Lens System

Lens - 17 mm - F/2.8 Micro Four Thirds

3 x x Zoom lens - 16 mm - 50 mm - F/3.5-5.6 PZ OSS

3.6 x x Zoom lens - 10.4 mm - 37.1 mm - F/1.8-4.9

3 x x Zoom lens - 18 mm - 55 mm - F/3.5-5.6 II Canon EF-S

20 x x Zoom lens - 4.5 mm - 90 mm - F/3.5-6.8
Video capture

AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 -

AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 -

AVCHD - 1280 x 720 -

AVCHD - 1280 x 720 -

MJPEG - 1280 x 720 -

MJPEG - 640 x 480 -

AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 -

AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 -

AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 -

AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 -

AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 -

H.264 - 1440 x 1080 -

H.264 - 640 x 480 -

AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 -

AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 -

AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 -

H.264 - 1440 x 1080 -

H.264 - 640 x 480 -

MOV - 1920 x 1080 -

MOV - 1920 x 1080 -

MOV - 1920 x 1080 -

MOV - 1280 x 720 -

MOV - 1280 x 720 -

MOV - 640 x 480 -

MOV - 640 x 480 -

H.264 - 1920 x 1080 -

H.264 - 1280 x 720 -

H.264 - 640 x 480 -

H.264 - 640 x 480 -

H.264 - 320 x 240 -

iFrame - 1280 x 720 -
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