Olympus E-PL1 Review: Digital Photography Review

Compared to... Nikon D3000

Studio scene comparison (JPEG)

This is our standard studio scene comparison shot taken from exactly the same tripod position. Lighting: daylight simulation, >98% CRI. Crops are 100%. Ambient temperature was approximately 22°C (~72°F).

Olympus E-PL1 vs. Nikon D3000

Camera settings:

Olympus E-PL1: Olympus 50 mm F2 Macro lens (@F6.3), Aperture Priority, ISO 200
JPEG Large/SHQ, Manual WB, Default Parameters (Standard), Self-Timer
Nikon D3000: Nikkor 50 mm F1.4 lens, Aperture Priority, ISO 100, JPEG Large/Fine,
Manual WB, Default Parameters (Standard), Self-Timer, ADL off

Olympus E-PL1	Nikon D3000

7.7 MB JPEG (4032 x 3024)	4.1 MB JPEG (3872 x 2592)

The higher resolution and better JPEG engine of the E-PL1 puts the baby Nikon to shame - with the Olympus trumping the DSLR in every respect. The Nikon D3000 isn't here because it offers class-leading image quality but because its feature set is most closely comparable to the E-PL1, even so the difference is dramatic.