Olympus SZ-16 iHS vs Pentax K-5

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Olympus SZ-16 iHS versus Pentax K-5, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Advanced DSLR by companies Olympus and Pentax. The sensor resolution of the SZ-16 iHS (16MP) and the K-5 (16MP) is very close but the SZ-16 iHS (1/2.3") and K-5 (APS-C) offer totally different sensor sizes.

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The SZ-16 iHS was brought out 2 years later than the K-5 and that is a fairly serious difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus SZ-16 iHS being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-5 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before getting right into a detailed comparison, here is a brief summary of how the SZ-16 iHS matches up versus the K-5 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus SZ-16 iHS & Pentax K-5. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus SZ-16 iHS Gallery & Pentax K-5 Gallery.

For those who are going to lug around your camera often, you should take into account its weight and size. The Olympus SZ-16 iHS provides outer measurements of 108mm x 70mm x 40mm (4.3" x 2.8" x 1.6") having a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs) and the Pentax K-5 has specifications of 131mm x 97mm x 73mm (5.2" x 3.8" x 2.9") accompanied by a weight of 740 grams (1.63 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus SZ-16 iHS versus Pentax K-5 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you have chosen at the time. Here is a front view measurements comparison of the SZ-16 iHS vs the K-5.

Considering size and weight, the portability score of the SZ-16 iHS and K-5 is 89 and 60 respectively.

Usually, it's hard to envision the difference in sensor measurements purely by researching specifications. The visual below will help offer you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the SZ-16 iHS and K-5.

Plainly, the two cameras have the same MP but not the same sensor measurements. The SZ-16 iHS features the smaller sensor which will make getting shallower DOF more difficult. The fresher SZ-16 iHS will have an advantage in sensor innovation.