Olympus VR-340 vs Pentax K-1 II

On this page, we will be looking at the Olympus VR-340 and Pentax K-1 II, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Advanced DSLR by rivals Olympus and Pentax. There exists a big gap among the resolutions of the VR-340 (16MP) and K-1 II (36MP) and the VR-340 (1/2.3") and K-1 II (Full frame) posses totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The VR-340 was announced 7 years prior to the K-1 II which is a fairly big gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Olympus VR-340 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-1 II being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before we go straight to a thorough comparison, here is a simple overview of how the VR-340 scores versus the K-1 II in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Olympus VR-340 and Pentax K-1 Mark II. The whole galleries are available at Olympus VR-340 Gallery and Pentax K-1 II Gallery.

For those who are intending to travel with your camera frequently, you are going to need to think about its weight and proportions. The Olympus VR-340 has got outside dimensions of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") having a weight of 125 grams (0.28 lbs) whilst the Pentax K-1 II has measurements of 137mm x 110mm x 86mm (5.4" x 4.3" x 3.4") having a weight of 1010 grams (2.23 lbs).

Contrast the Olympus VR-340 and Pentax K-1 II in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you use during that time. Following is a front view physical size comparison of the VR-340 against the K-1 II.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the VR-340 and K-1 II is 96 and 55 respectively.

Quite often, it's hard to see the gap in sensor dimensions simply by checking out a spec sheet. The image here will help offer you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the VR-340 and K-1 II.

Clearly, the 2 cameras have different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The VR-340 having a smaller sensor will make shooting shallow depth of field harder and the Pentax K-1 II will produce extra detail with its extra 20MP. Higher resolution will enable you to crop photographs a bit more aggressively. The more aged VR-340 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.