Panasonic ZS200 vs Pentax K-5

Let's look more closely at the Panasonic ZS200 and Pentax K-5, one being a Large Sensor Compact and the other is a Advanced DSLR by manufacturers Panasonic and Pentax. There is a huge difference between the sensor resolutions of the ZS200 (20MP) and K-5 (16MP) and the ZS200 (1") and K-5 (APS-C) offer different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The ZS200 was released 7 years later than the K-5 and that is quite a significant gap as far as tech is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Panasonic ZS200 being a Large Sensor Compact camera and the Pentax K-5 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before getting right into a step-by-step comparison, here is a short synopsis of how the ZS200 matches up vs the K-5 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200 and Pentax K-5. The complete galleries are viewable at Panasonic ZS200 Gallery and Pentax K-5 Gallery.

In case you're aiming to lug around your camera regularly, you should consider its weight and measurements. The Panasonic ZS200 comes with outside measurements of 111mm x 66mm x 45mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.8") accompanied by a weight of 340 grams (0.75 lbs) whilst the Pentax K-5 has proportions of 131mm x 97mm x 73mm (5.2" x 3.8" x 2.9") having a weight of 740 grams (1.63 lbs).

Check out the Panasonic ZS200 and Pentax K-5 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you have chosen at the time. The following is a front view measurement comparison of the ZS200 vs the K-5.

Looking at size and weight, the portability grade of the ZS200 and K-5 is 86 and 60 respectively.

Usually, it's hard to imagine the contrast between sensor measurements only by reading through a spec sheet. The visual here will offer you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the ZS200 and K-5.

As you can see, both cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The ZS200 featuring a tinier sensor is going to make shooting shallower depth of field harder and the Panasonic ZS200 will give extra detail as a result of its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop images more aggressively. The younger ZS200 provides a benefit in sensor technology.