Panasonic FH8 vs Pentax Q7

Let's look a bit more in depth at the Panasonic FH8 and Pentax Q7, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by competitors Panasonic and Pentax. There exists a considerable gap among the image resolutions of the FH8 (16MP) and Q7 (12MP) and the FH8 (1/2.3") and Q7 (1/1.7") use totally different sensor sizes.

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The FH8 was launched 19 months prior to the Q7 which makes the cameras a generation apart from one another. The two cameras offer different body type with the Panasonic FH8 being a Compact camera and the Pentax Q7 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going in to a in-depth comparison, below is a concise summary of how the FH8 grades vs the Q7 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH8 & Pentax Q7. The complete galleries are available at Panasonic FH8 Gallery & Pentax Q7 Gallery.

For anybody who is going to lug around your camera frequently, you are going to need to factor in its weight and proportions. The Panasonic FH8 has got outer measurements of 96mm x 57mm x 19mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.7") having a weight of 123 grams (0.27 lbs) whilst the Pentax Q7 has measurements of 102mm x 58mm x 34mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.3") accompanied by a weight of 200 grams (0.44 lbs).

Compare the Panasonic FH8 and Pentax Q7 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are using at that moment. The following is the front view proportions comparison of the FH8 vs the Q7.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the FH8 and Q7 is 96 and 92 respectively.

More often than not, it's hard to see the difference in sensor measurements purely by viewing a spec sheet. The visual here might give you a more clear sense of the sensor sizing in the FH8 and Q7.

Clearly, each of the cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The FH8 because of its smaller sensor will make getting shallower depth of field harder and the Panasonic FH8 will render more detail utilizing its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also allow you to crop pictures far more aggressively. The older FH8 will be disadvantaged in sensor tech.