Panasonic FS15 vs Pentax K-500

Below is a thorough overview of the Panasonic FS15 versus Pentax K-500, former being a Ultracompact while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Panasonic and Pentax. There is a substantial difference between the resolutions of the FS15 (12MP) and K-500 (16MP) and the FS15 (1/2.3") and K-500 (APS-C) posses totally different sensor size.

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The FS15 was unveiled 5 years earlier than the K-500 and that is quite a big difference as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Panasonic FS15 being a Ultracompact camera and the Pentax K-500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving straight to a in depth comparison, here is a short summation of how the FS15 grades against the K-500 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS15 & Pentax K-500. The full galleries are available at Panasonic FS15 Gallery & Pentax K-500 Gallery.

For anybody who is going to lug around your camera frequently, you're going to have to consider its weight and proportions. The Panasonic FS15 has exterior dimensions of 97mm x 54mm x 22mm (3.8" x 2.1" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 136 grams (0.30 lbs) whilst the Pentax K-500 has measurements of 130mm x 97mm x 71mm (5.1" x 3.8" x 2.8") and a weight of 646 grams (1.42 lbs).

Check the Panasonic FS15 versus Pentax K-500 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you have during that time. Here is a front view sizing comparison of the FS15 versus the K-500.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the FS15 and K-500 is 95 and 64 respectively.

Generally, its difficult to see the gap between sensor measurements only by reviewing technical specs. The visual below should provide you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the FS15 and K-500.

As you can tell, both cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The FS15 using its tinier sensor will make shooting shallow DOF trickier and the Pentax K-500 will offer you greater detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop pictures more aggressively. The older FS15 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor tech.