Olympus SH-50 vs Pentax K-3

Lets look closer at the Olympus SH-50 versus Pentax K-3, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by competitors Olympus and Pentax. There is a considerable difference between the image resolutions of the SH-50 (16MP) and K-3 (24MP) and the SH-50 (1/2.3") and K-3 (APS-C) posses different sensor size.

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The SH-50 was manufactured 15 months before the K-3 which makes them a generation apart from each other. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-3 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before delving right into a detailed comparison, here is a concise view of how the SH-50 matches up vs the K-3 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus SH-50 & Pentax K-3. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus SH-50 Gallery & Pentax K-3 Gallery.

In case you're going to lug around your camera, you'll need to take into account its weight and size. The Olympus SH-50 provides outside measurements of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") and a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs) while the Pentax K-3 has specifications of 131mm x 100mm x 77mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") with a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs).

See the Olympus SH-50 versus Pentax K-3 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you choose during that time. Following is a front view sizing comparison of the SH-50 compared to the K-3.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the SH-50 and K-3 is 88 and 59 respectively.

In many cases, its hard to imagine the gap between sensor measurements merely by going over technical specs. The graphic here might give you a stronger sense of the sensor sizing in the SH-50 and K-3.

As you can tell, both of these cameras have different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The SH-50 due to its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field more difficult and the Pentax K-3 will deliver greater detail due to its extra 8MP. Higher resolution will also help you crop pictures a bit more aggressively. The older SH-50 is going to be behind with regard to sensor innovation.