Olympus SH-50 vs Pentax K-r

On this page, we are matching up the Olympus SH-50 vs Pentax K-r, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by rivals Olympus and Pentax. There exists a sizable gap among the resolutions of the SH-50 (16MP) and K-r (12MP) and the SH-50 (1/2.3") and K-r (APS-C) provide different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The SH-50 was unveiled 23 months after the K-r making them a generation away from one another. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus SH-50 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-r being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving straight to a comprehensive comparison, here is a quick summation of how the SH-50 scores against the K-r in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus SH-50 & Pentax K-r. The full galleries are available at Olympus SH-50 Gallery & Pentax K-r Gallery.

For anyone who is planning to travel with your camera, you will want to factor in its weight and size. The Olympus SH-50 comes with physical dimensions of 112mm x 63mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.7") with a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs) and the Pentax K-r has specifications of 125mm x 97mm x 68mm (4.9" x 3.8" x 2.7") along with a weight of 598 grams (1.32 lbs).

Look at the Olympus SH-50 vs Pentax K-r in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you have chosen at that time. The following is a front view scale comparison of the SH-50 vs the K-r.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the SH-50 and K-r is 88 and 67 respectively.

Quite often, its difficult to picture the contrast in sensor dimensions just by checking out specifications. The pic below should provide you a greater sense of the sensor dimensions in the SH-50 and K-r.

To sum up, both the cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The SH-50 having a smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field trickier and the Olympus SH-50 will produce more detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also help you crop images more aggressively. The fresher SH-50 provides an edge when it comes to sensor tech.