Olympus VG-160 vs Pentax K-3 II

Let's examine more closely at the Olympus VG-160 and Pentax K-3 II, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by competitors Olympus and Pentax. There is a substantial difference between the resolutions of the VG-160 (14MP) and K-3 II (24MP) and the VG-160 (1/2.3") and K-3 II (APS-C) use totally different sensor dimensions.

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The VG-160 was announced 4 years earlier than the K-3 II which is quite a big difference as far as tech is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus VG-160 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-3 II being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before going in to a full comparison, below is a quick overview of how the VG-160 matches up vs the K-3 II when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus VG-160 & Pentax K-3 II. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus VG-160 Gallery & Pentax K-3 II Gallery.

If you are planning to travel with your camera regularly, you need to think about its weight and size. The Olympus VG-160 comes with outside measurements of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") along with a weight of 125 grams (0.28 lbs) whilst the Pentax K-3 II has specifications of 131mm x 100mm x 77mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") accompanied by a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus VG-160 and Pentax K-3 II in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are utilizing at that moment. Underneath is the front view size comparison of the VG-160 compared to the K-3 II.

Looking at size and weight, the portability grade of the VG-160 and K-3 II is 96 and 59 respectively.

Generally, it is very tough to envision the gap between sensor dimensions purely by reading technical specs. The image below will give you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the VG-160 and K-3 II.

As you have seen, both the cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The VG-160 using its tinier sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field trickier and the Pentax K-3 II will deliver more detail with its extra 10 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also let you crop photographs somewhat more aggressively. The more aged VG-160 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.