Olympus SH-50 vs Pentax K-3 II

Its time to take a deeper look at the Olympus SH-50 and Pentax K-3 II, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by companies Olympus and Pentax. There exists a substantial gap between the image resolutions of the SH-50 (16MP) and K-3 II (24MP) and the SH-50 (1/2.3") and K-3 II (APS-C) have totally different sensor sizes.

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The SH-50 was brought out 3 years prior to the K-3 II which is quite a big difference as far as technology is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-3 II being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before we go into a comprehensive comparison, here is a short summation of how the SH-50 matches up vs the K-3 II for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

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

For anyone who is looking to travel with your camera often, you have to factor its weight and measurements. The Olympus SH-50 features external dimensions of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") with a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs) whilst the Pentax K-3 II has proportions of 131mm x 100mm x 77mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") with a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs).

Examine the Olympus SH-50 and Pentax K-3 II in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are employing at the time. The following is a front view physical size comparison of the SH-50 vs the K-3 II.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the SH-50 and K-3 II is 88 and 59 respectively.

Quite often, it is hard to visualise the gap between sensor dimensions only by going over technical specs. The picture underneath should provide you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the SH-50 and K-3 II.

As you have seen, the 2 cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The SH-50 due to its tinier sensor will make achieving shallower DOF more challenging and the Pentax K-3 II will offer more detail having its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also allow you to crop shots more aggressively. The more aged SH-50 is going to be behind in sensor technology.