Head to Head: Sony NEX-5N and Olympus PEN E-P3

The Olympus PEN E-P3 wound up being our top mirrorless system camera from 2011, with phenomenal color accuracy, lightning-quick autofocus, and a great design that hit all the right notes with enthusiast photographers. The Sony NEX-5N appeals to a different set, but it offers the kind of performance that we'd been remiss if we didn't put the two head-to-head to see which is the better performer now.

To read our full in-depth review of the Sony NEX-5N, please go here.
For our full review of the Olympus E-P3, please go here.

Performance

The Olympus E-P3 cedes a huge performance edge to the Sony NEX-5N right off the bat in terms of image sensor. The Sony’s 16-megapixel APS-C size image sensor is simply of a much higher quality than the Olympus E-P3, producing far better dynamic range and completely outstripping the E-P3 at moderate and high ISO sensitivities.

In great light where image noise is no longer a concern, the E-P3 really starts to flex its muscle, as it returns extremely accurate color, near-perfect saturation, and reproduces fine detail very well. The Sony NEX-5N reproduces detail well, but Sony’s in-camera JPEG engine ups saturation considerably (to at least 115% of the ideal), favoring vibrancy over accuracy. That’s all fine and well for landscape shots, but the camera tends to return overly rosy skin tones compared to the E-P3.

While the E-P3 takes color accuracy and the NEX-5N crushes the Olympus in low light, the two cameras split one very important category: speed. The NEX-5N shoots a lightning quick 10fps with exposure and focus locked at the first frame. The Olympus E-P3 can only muster 3.15fps by comparison. Where the E-P3 does best the Sony is in its incredibly fast autofocus, which was best in class when it was released last year.

Winner: Draw; Sony NEX-5N in low light, Olympus E-P3 in bright light

Design and Handling: Olympus E-P3

The NEX-5N and Olympus E-P3 both appeal to very different photographers with opposite design principles. The E-P3 is all retro love, with old-school design lines, a removable (and interchangeable) grip, plenty of manual control, and clear labeling for the enthusiast user to pore over.

The NEX-5N, conversely, is all modern industrial design; a faux-steel concoction that Louis Sullivan would fawn over. The 5N features only the bare essential for control: shutter button, rear control dial, two unlabelled soft keys on the back of the camera. The two rear keys have their function called out on the rear screen, avoiding the need to clutter up the rear design with static labeling.

In the end we have to hand this category to the Olympus E-P3 for a few reasons. The Sony NEX-5N lacks the level of sophisticated control that the E-P3 offers, not to mention the E-P3’s interchangeable grip. Both cameras have menu systems that are beautiful, if a bit convoluted, but the E-P3’s OLED touchscreen outpoints the NEX-5N’s touch LCD as well. All in all, we love the NEX design, but love the E-P3’s just a little bit more.

Winner: Olympus E-P3

Conclusion

While we love the Olympus E-P3’s bright light image quality, we should be very clear: in low light, the Sony NEX-5N runs laps around the E-P3. The NEX-5N preserves more dynamic range, returns less noise, and retains more fine detail than the E-P3. While it’s admirable that Olympus has gotten so much out of what is essentially the same image sensor they put in the original E-P1, it’s time to upgrade the sensor.

That being said, most of the performance gains of going with the Sony NEX-5N are going to be heavily mitigated when shooting in friendlier conditions, with the Olympus E-P3 also focusing much faster when light is plentiful. The E-P3 also benefits from a more customizable setup, more granular control, and a better user interface. All in all, the E-P3 offers better all-around performance, though its Achilles heel—low light shooting—is the NEX-5N’s greatest strength.

Winner: Olympus E-P3, though low light mavens should opt for the NEX-5N.