Olympus Tough-3000 vs Pentax K-3

Below is a thorough overview of the Olympus Tough-3000 and Pentax K-3, former being a Waterproof while the other is a Advanced DSLR by companies Olympus and Pentax. There exists a large gap between the image resolutions of the Tough-3000 (12MP) and K-3 (24MP) and the Tough-3000 (1/2.3") and K-3 (APS-C) offer totally different sensor sizes.

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The Tough-3000 was manufactured 5 years prior to the K-3 and that is quite a serious difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Olympus Tough-3000 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-3 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before going straight to a full comparison, here is a brief summation of how the Tough-3000 scores vs the K-3 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus Stylus Tough-3000 & Pentax K-3. The entire galleries are viewable at Olympus Tough-3000 Gallery & Pentax K-3 Gallery.

If you're planning to lug around your camera often, you are going to need to think about its weight and proportions. The Olympus Tough-3000 enjoys outer measurements of 96mm x 65mm x 23mm (3.8" x 2.6" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 159 grams (0.35 lbs) and the Pentax K-3 has measurements of 131mm x 100mm x 77mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") and a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs).

Check out the Olympus Tough-3000 and Pentax K-3 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you are using at that time. Here is a front view physical size comparison of the Tough-3000 compared to the K-3.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the Tough-3000 and K-3 is 94 and 59 respectively.

Quite often, its hard to see the difference between sensor measurements simply by going over a spec sheet. The graphic underneath may offer you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the Tough-3000 and K-3.

Clearly, both of the cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The Tough-3000 featuring a tinier sensor will make achieving shallow DOF tougher and the Pentax K-3 will offer you greater detail due to its extra 12MP. Greater resolution will also help you crop images more aggressively. The older Tough-3000 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.