Olympus E-3 vs. Canon EOS 5D

Comparison

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E-3 image
vs
EOS 5D image
Olympus E-3 Canon EOS 5D
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Megapixels
10.10
12.70
Max. image resolution
3648 x 2736
4368 x 2912

Sensor

Sensor type
CMOS
CMOS
Sensor size
Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm)
35.8 x 23.8 mm
Sensor resolution
3665 x 2756
4365 x 2910
Diagonal
21.64 mm
42.99 mm
Sensor size comparison
Sensor size is generally a good indicator of the quality of the camera. Sensors can vary greatly in size. As a general rule, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.

Bigger sensors are more effective because they have more surface area to capture light. An important factor when comparing digital cameras is also camera generation. Generally, newer sensors will outperform the older.

Learn more about sensor sizes »

Actual sensor size

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »
vs
1 : 3.79
(ratio)
Olympus E-3 Canon EOS 5D
Surface area:
224.90 mm² vs 852.04 mm²
Difference: 627.14 mm² (279%)
5D sensor is approx. 3.79x bigger than E-3 sensor.
Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 2 year gap between Olympus E-3 (2007) and Canon 5D (2005). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.
Pixel pitch
4.72 µm
8.2 µm
Pixel pitch tells you the distance from the center of one pixel (photosite) to the center of the next. It tells you how close the pixels are to each other.

The bigger the pixel pitch, the further apart they are and the bigger each pixel is. Bigger pixels tend to have better signal to noise ratio and greater dynamic range.
Difference: 3.48 µm (74%)
Pixel pitch of 5D is approx. 74% higher than pixel pitch of E-3.
Pixel area
22.28 µm²
67.24 µm²
Pixel or photosite area affects how much light per pixel can be gathered. The larger it is the more light can be collected by a single pixel.

Larger pixels have the potential to collect more photons, resulting in greater dynamic range, while smaller pixels provide higher resolutions (more detail) for a given sensor size.
Relative pixel sizes:
vs
Pixel area difference: 44.96 µm² (202%)
A pixel on Canon 5D sensor is approx. 202% bigger than a pixel on Olympus E-3.
Pixel density
4.49 MP/cm²
1.49 MP/cm²
Pixel density tells you how many million pixels fit or would fit in one square cm of the sensor.

Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.
Difference: 3 µm (201%)
Olympus E-3 has approx. 201% higher pixel density than Canon 5D.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Olympus E-3
Canon 5D
Crop factor
2
1.01
Total megapixels
11.80
13.30
Effective megapixels
10.10
12.70
Optical zoom
Digital zoom
No
No
ISO sensitivity
Auto, 100 - 3200
Auto, 50 - 3200
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
Macro focus range
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
Aperture priority
Yes
Yes
Max. aperture
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
n/a
n/a
Metering
49-zone Multi-pattern, Centre weighted, ESP Digital, Spot
Centre weighted, Matrix, Multi-segment, Spot
Exposure compensation
±5 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 1 EV steps)
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
Yes
Yes
Min. shutter speed
Bulb+60 sec
30 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/8000 sec
1/8000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Optical (pentaprism)
Optical (pentaprism)
White balance presets
8
6
Screen size
2.5"
2.5"
Screen resolution
230,000 dots
230,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
Storage types
CompactFlash type I, CompactFlash type II, Microdrive, xD Picture
CompactFlash type I, CompactFlash type II, Microdrive
USB
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
Lithium-Ion rechargeable
Lithium-Ion BP-511A rechargeable battery
Weight
800 g
895 g
Dimensions
142 x 116 x 74.5 mm
152 x 113 x 75 mm
Year
2007
2005




Choose cameras to compare

vs

Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
Diagonal =  w² + h²
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Olympus E-3 diagonal

w = 17.30 mm
h = 13.00 mm
Diagonal =  17.30² + 13.00²   = 21.64 mm

Canon 5D diagonal

w = 35.80 mm
h = 23.80 mm
Diagonal =  35.80² + 23.80²   = 42.99 mm


Surface area

Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.

E-3 sensor area

Width = 17.30 mm
Height = 13.00 mm

Surface area = 17.30 × 13.00 = 224.90 mm²

5D sensor area

Width = 35.80 mm
Height = 23.80 mm

Surface area = 35.80 × 23.80 = 852.04 mm²


Pixel pitch

Pixel pitch is the distance from the center of one pixel to the center of the next measured in micrometers (µm). It can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel pitch =   sensor width in mm  × 1000
sensor resolution width in pixels

E-3 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 17.30 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3665 pixels
Pixel pitch =   17.30  × 1000  = 4.72 µm
3665

5D pixel pitch

Sensor width = 35.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4365 pixels
Pixel pitch =   35.80  × 1000  = 8.2 µm
4365


Pixel area

The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:
Pixel area = pixel pitch²

You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:
Pixel area =   sensor surface area in mm²
effective megapixels

E-3 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 4.72 µm

Pixel area = 4.72² = 22.28 µm²

5D pixel area

Pixel pitch = 8.2 µm

Pixel area = 8.2² = 67.24 µm²


Pixel density

Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel density =  ( sensor resolution width in pixels )² / 1000000
sensor width in cm

One could also use this formula:
Pixel density =   effective megapixels × 1000000  / 10000
sensor surface area in mm²

E-3 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3665 pixels
Sensor width = 1.73 cm

Pixel density = (3665 / 1.73)² / 1000000 = 4.49 MP/cm²

5D pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4365 pixels
Sensor width = 3.58 cm

Pixel density = (4365 / 3.58)² / 1000000 = 1.49 MP/cm²


Sensor resolution

Sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels. It's slightly higher than maximum (not interpolated) image resolution which is usually stated on camera specifications. Sensor resolution is used in pixel pitch, pixel area, and pixel density formula. For sake of simplicity, we're going to calculate it in 3 stages.

1. First we need to find the ratio between horizontal and vertical length by dividing the former with the latter (aspect ratio). It's usually 1.33 (4:3) or 1.5 (3:2), but not always.

2. With the ratio (r) known we can calculate the X from the formula below, where X is a vertical number of pixels:
(X × r) × X = effective megapixels × 1000000    →   
X =  effective megapixels × 1000000
r
3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:

Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X

E-3 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 17.30 mm
Sensor height = 13.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 10.10
r = 17.30/13.00 = 1.33
X =  10.10 × 1000000  = 2756
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2756 × 1.33 = 3665
Resolution vertical: X = 2756

Sensor resolution = 3665 x 2756

5D sensor resolution

Sensor width = 35.80 mm
Sensor height = 23.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.70
r = 35.80/23.80 = 1.5
X =  12.70 × 1000000  = 2910
1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2910 × 1.5 = 4365
Resolution vertical: X = 2910

Sensor resolution = 4365 x 2910


Crop factor

Crop factor or focal length multiplier is calculated by dividing the diagonal of 35 mm film (43.27 mm) with the diagonal of the sensor.
Crop factor =   43.27 mm
sensor diagonal in mm


E-3 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 21.64 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 2
21.64

5D crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 42.99 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 1.01
42.99

35 mm equivalent aperture

Equivalent aperture (in 135 film terms) is calculated by multiplying lens aperture with crop factor (a.k.a. focal length multiplier).

E-3 equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Olympus E-3, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Olympus E-3 is 2

5D equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Canon 5D, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Canon 5D is 1.01

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