Olympus VR-320 vs Pentax K-500

Let's take a more detailed look at the Olympus VR-320 and Pentax K-500, one is a Small Sensor Superzoom and the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Olympus and Pentax. The sensor resolution of the VR-320 (14MP) and the K-500 (16MP) is very comparable but the VR-320 (1/2.3") and K-500 (APS-C) possess different sensor sizing.

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The VR-320 was introduced 3 years prior to the K-500 which is a fairly significant gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Olympus VR-320 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting in to a full comparison, below is a brief summary of how the VR-320 grades against the K-500 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus VR-320 and Pentax K-500. The whole galleries are viewable at Olympus VR-320 Gallery and Pentax K-500 Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to travel with your camera frequently, you are going to need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus VR-320 comes with outside dimensions of 101mm x 58mm x 29mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.1") and a weight of 158 grams (0.35 lbs) whilst 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).

Check the Olympus VR-320 and Pentax K-500 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you have during that time. Underneath is the front view over all size comparison of the VR-320 versus the K-500.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the VR-320 and K-500 is 94 and 64 respectively.

More often than not, its difficult to picture the difference in sensor dimensions just by checking out a spec sheet. The picture underneath may give you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the VR-320 and K-500.

Clearly, each of these cameras have got different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The VR-320 using its smaller sensor is going to make shooting shallower DOF trickier and the Pentax K-500 will show greater detail using its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop pics much more aggressively. The more aged VR-320 will be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.