Olympus PEN E-P3 vs Panasonic Lumix DMC GH2 — Which Is Better?

The Olympus PEN E-P3 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC GH2 are both mirrorless cameras built on the Micro Four Thirds format, so your Micro 4/3 lenses fit either body without an adapter. The GH2 arrived in 2010, a year before the 2011 E-P3.

The GH2 is the larger, heavier body at 124 x 90 x 76 mm and 442 g, while the E-P3 is flatter and lighter at 122 x 69 x 34 mm and 369 g. The GH2's deeper body carries a built-in electronic viewfinder, which the E-P3 does without.

The GH2 is the stronger choice for heavy cropping: its 16.05 megapixels against the E-P3's 12.3 leave more pixels after you trim a distant subject to the composition you want. It also frames at eye level through a 1,533,600-dot electronic viewfinder; the E-P3 has none, so you shoot from the screen.

For autofocus placement the E-P3 pulls ahead, with 35 AF points against the GH2's 23, giving more positions for off-centre subjects. The shared stills limits then apply: both shoot at 3 fps, cap the shutter at 1/4000 second, offer in-body stabilisation and top out at ISO 12800. The GH2's base ISO is 160 against the E-P3's 200.

Both cameras record up to Full HD resolution and support frame rates up to 60 fps, so the recording limits are the same. The difference is file format: the GH2 records MOV as well as AVCHD, the E-P3 AVCHD only, giving the GH2 an extra option for your editing setup. For video work, that flexibility makes the GH2 the stronger pick.

The GH2's articulating screen flips out for waist-level and overhead angles that a fixed screen cannot frame. The E-P3's screen is fixed but sharper, an OLED panel with 614,000 dots against the GH2's 460,000-dot TFT LCD, for a crisper view when you check focus.

Each camera offers a 3-inch touchscreen with live view plus a built-in flash and external flash support. Neither includes GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or weather sealing, so neither geotags your photos or transfers them wirelessly.

Card storage and battery ratings are shared: both cameras write to a single SD, SDHC or SDXC slot and both are rated 330 shots per charge under their test conditions. Neither charges over USB, so you pack a separate charger for either body.

The split to know before you buy spares is the battery itself: the E-P3 uses a BLS-5 pack and the GH2 uses a DMW-BLC12PP, so batteries are not interchangeable between the two.