Introduction
From our Reviews of Olympus Pen E-PM1 and Sony Alpha NEX-C3, We find the two products have a lot in common, Like in size and Continuous shooting speed, But the price of NEX-C3 ($598.00 at Amazon) is about $100 higher than E-PM1($499.00 at Amazon), Is Sony NEX-C3 better than Olympus E-PM1?
Look and Feel
Olympus Pen E-PM1
Although they have the similar size, But also have some difference on appearance. The Olympus Pen E-PM1 looks traditional yet have 6 colors options which is more than the NEX-C3 only has 3 skins.
The Sony Alpha NEX-C3 is much bigger than E-PM1 if we count the lens size, The 18-55mm lens in NEX seems huge for a compact camera, And the 14-42mm lens of Olympus Pen E-PM1 looks a little smaller.
How about the Image Quality
Sony Alpha NEX-C3
The one of the main factors can influence the image quality is the sensor, We can see that the NEX-C3 does better at this.
The Sony NEX C3 comes with the 16 Megapixels APS-C CMOS Sensor which is larger than 12 MP Live CMOS sensor of E-PM1, And with our test result, The performance of NEX C3 is great with both high ISO and Low ISO settings, But the Olympus Pen E-PM1 is getting harder to deliver the noise free pictures with high ISO sensitivity.
Additionally, The the resolution of 3 inch lcd screen in NEX-C3 is 921k dots, Which is more sharp and clear than the same size but lower resolution(460k dots) display in Olympus Pen E-PM1.
Video Test
People may feel the 720P video mode is enough to use, But i think the 1080P is much better.
There is no question the video quality winner is the Olympus Pen E-PM1 which with the 1080P Video recording, Although the E-PM1 has failed in image comparison But the movies taken by it are really attractive, I think the reason is the 60fps rate faster than 30fps in NEX-C3 that would help you capture more details.
The Battery Life
Based on the result, The Sony Alpha NEX-C3 could take 400 images after recharged that is better than Olympus E-PM1, The battery life of Olympus Pen E-PM1 differs by about 70 shots from NEX-C3.
This is the Verdict
To sum it up, If you prefer to shoot the excellent photos and don’t care the a little higher price, Sony Alpha NEX-C3 can be you best deals. But if you’d like shooting videos and want to get a budget camera, Don’t forget the Olympus Pen E-PM1.