Olympus XZ-1 vs Pentax K-5 II

Its time to look more closely at the Olympus XZ-1 vs Pentax K-5 II, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Advanced DSLR by competitors Olympus and Pentax. There is a sizeable difference between the resolutions of the XZ-1 (10MP) and K-5 II (16MP) and the XZ-1 (1/1.63") and K-5 II (APS-C) boast different sensor measurements.

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The XZ-1 was revealed 3 years before the K-5 II which is quite a large gap as far as tech is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Olympus XZ-1 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-5 II being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before getting straight to a detailed comparison, here is a brief view of how the XZ-1 matches up against the K-5 II in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Olympus XZ-1 and Pentax K-5 II. The full galleries are viewable at Olympus XZ-1 Gallery and Pentax K-5 II Gallery.

For those who are planning to travel with your camera frequently, you need to think about its weight and volume. The Olympus XZ-1 offers outside dimensions of 111mm x 65mm x 42mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.7") with a weight of 275 grams (0.61 lbs) and the Pentax K-5 II has sizing of 131mm x 97mm x 73mm (5.2" x 3.8" x 2.9") accompanied by a weight of 760 grams (1.68 lbs).

Analyze the Olympus XZ-1 vs Pentax K-5 II in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you choose at that time. Following is a front view over all size comparison of the XZ-1 compared to the K-5 II.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability rating of the XZ-1 and K-5 II is 88 and 60 respectively.

Usually, it's hard to visualize the gap between sensor dimensions purely by reading technical specs. The picture below will help give you a stronger sense of the sensor sizes in the XZ-1 and K-5 II.

As you can tell, both cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The XZ-1 having a tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallow depth of field more difficult and the Pentax K-5 II will deliver greater detail because of its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will help you crop photos a bit more aggressively. The more aged XZ-1 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor technology.