Olympus 7040 vs Pentax K-7

Let's look a little more in depth at the Olympus 7040 and Pentax K-7, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Advanced DSLR by competitors Olympus and Pentax. The image resolution of the 7040 (14MP) and the K-7 (15MP) is very close but the 7040 (1/2.3") and K-7 (APS-C) offer totally different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The 7040 was released 4 months after the K-7 so they are of a similar generation. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus 7040 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-7 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before going right into a full comparison, here is a quick introduction of how the 7040 scores against the K-7 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus Stylus 7040 and Pentax K-7. The complete galleries are available at Olympus 7040 Gallery and Pentax K-7 Gallery.

When you are looking to travel with your camera often, you'll have to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus 7040 features exterior measurements of 95mm x 56mm x 26mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 1.0") with a weight of 144 grams (0.32 lbs) while the Pentax K-7 has measurements of 131mm x 97mm x 73mm (5.2" x 3.8" x 2.9") and a weight of 750 grams (1.65 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus 7040 and Pentax K-7 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you are using at that time. Following is a front view dimension comparison of the 7040 against the K-7.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the 7040 and K-7 is 95 and 60 respectively.

Typically, it is very tough to see the contrast in sensor dimensions simply by looking through a spec sheet. The pic below might provide you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the 7040 and K-7.

Clearly, both of these cameras have different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The 7040 due to its smaller sensor will make getting shallower depth of field more challenging and the Pentax K-7 will render greater detail as a result of its extra 1 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also let you crop images a bit more aggressively.