Panasonic FS42 vs Pentax K-7

Lets look a bit more closely at the Panasonic FS42 versus Pentax K-7, one being a Ultracompact and the latter is a Advanced DSLR by companies Panasonic and Pentax. There exists a huge gap between the resolutions of the FS42 (10MP) and K-7 (15MP) and the FS42 (1/2.5") and K-7 (APS-C) boast totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The FS42 was unveiled 5 months prior to the K-7 and they are both of a similar generation. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Panasonic FS42 being a Ultracompact camera and the Pentax K-7 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before going straight to a comprehensive comparison, here is a brief view of how the FS42 matches up versus the K-7 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS42 and Pentax K-7. The full galleries are available at Panasonic FS42 Gallery and Pentax K-7 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to lug around your camera frequently, you will have to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Panasonic FS42 comes with physical measurements of 98mm x 55mm x 22mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 0.9") along with a weight of 132 grams (0.29 lbs) and the Pentax K-7 has dimensions of 131mm x 97mm x 73mm (5.2" x 3.8" x 2.9") along with a weight of 750 grams (1.65 lbs).

Contrast the Panasonic FS42 versus Pentax K-7 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you use at the time. Below is a front view size comparison of the FS42 versus the K-7.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the FS42 and K-7 is 95 and 60 respectively.

Quite often, it's hard to envision the difference between sensor measurements purely by looking at a spec sheet. The photograph below might offer you a greater sense of the sensor measurements in the FS42 and K-7.

Clearly, both the cameras have different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The FS42 using its tinier sensor will make getting shallow depth of field harder and the Pentax K-7 will give you extra detail having an extra 5MP. Higher resolution can also allow you to crop photographs a bit more aggressively.