Olympus 550WP vs Pentax K-500

Let's examine more closely at the Olympus 550WP vs Pentax K-500, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Pentax. There is a noticeable difference between the image resolutions of the 550WP (10MP) and K-500 (16MP) and the 550WP (1/2.3") and K-500 (APS-C) use different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The 550WP was unveiled 5 years prior to the K-500 and that is quite a sizable difference as far as tech is concerned. Both of the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus 550WP being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before we go through a full comparison, below is a short highlight of how the 550WP matches up vs the K-500 for portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus Stylus 550WP & Pentax K-500. The full galleries are available at Olympus 550WP Gallery & Pentax K-500 Gallery.

If you're intending to lug around your camera, you're going to have to think about its weight and proportions. The Olympus 550WP provides outside measurements of 94mm x 62mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 0.9") with a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs) and the Pentax K-500 has measurements of 130mm x 97mm x 71mm (5.1" x 3.8" x 2.8") accompanied by a weight of 646 grams (1.42 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus 550WP vs Pentax K-500 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are using at that moment. The following is the front view scale comparison of the 550WP compared to the K-500.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the 550WP and K-500 is 94 and 64 respectively.

Generally, its tough to visualize the contrast between sensor measurements purely by reading through specifications. The photograph here may offer you a more clear sense of the sensor measurements in the 550WP and K-500.

To sum up, each of these cameras enjoy different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The 550WP using its tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallower depth of field harder and the Pentax K-500 will give extra detail having an extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will allow you to crop photos far more aggressively. The older 550WP is going to be behind with regard to sensor technology.