Olympus E-PL8 vs Pentax K-3 II

Here, we are contrasting the Olympus E-PL8 and Pentax K-3 II, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Advanced DSLR by competitors Olympus and Pentax. There is a sizable difference between the image resolutions of the E-PL8 (16MP) and K-3 II (24MP) and the E-PL8 (Four Thirds) and K-3 II (APS-C) boast different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The E-PL8 was released 18 months after the K-3 II making them a generation away from each other. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus E-PL8 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax K-3 II being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before going right into a more detailed comparison, here is a short introduction of how the E-PL8 matches up vs the K-3 II with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus PEN E-PL8 & Pentax K-3 II. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus E-PL8 Gallery & Pentax K-3 II Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to travel with your camera, you are going to need to consider its weight and proportions. The Olympus E-PL8 provides external measurements of 115mm x 67mm x 38mm (4.5" x 2.6" x 1.5") having a weight of 357 grams (0.79 lbs) whilst the Pentax K-3 II has measurements of 131mm x 100mm x 77mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") with a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs).

Look at the Olympus E-PL8 and Pentax K-3 II in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you are utilising at that moment. Underneath is a front view sizing comparison of the E-PL8 vs the K-3 II.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the E-PL8 and K-3 II is 86 and 59 respectively.

In many cases, its hard to picture the contrast between sensor dimensions purely by reading through a spec sheet. The image here might provide you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the E-PL8 and K-3 II.

Clearly, the two cameras feature different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The E-PL8 featuring a tinier sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF more challenging and the Pentax K-3 II will give more detail as a result of its extra 8 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop photos way more aggressively. The younger E-PL8 provides an advantage in sensor tech.