Panasonic FX580 vs Pentax K-3

On this page, we are comparing the Panasonic FX580 and Pentax K-3, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Advanced DSLR by brands Panasonic and Pentax. There exists a huge gap between the sensor resolutions of the FX580 (12MP) and K-3 (24MP) and the FX580 (1/2.3") and K-3 (APS-C) have different sensor measurements.

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The FX580 was launched 6 years before the K-3 which is quite a significant gap as far as technology is concerned. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Panasonic FX580 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-3 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before going into a thorough comparison, here is a quick summary of how the FX580 matches up versus the K-3 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX580 and Pentax K-3. The complete galleries are provided at Panasonic FX580 Gallery and Pentax K-3 Gallery.

If you're going to travel with your camera, you'll have to think about its weight and dimensions. The Panasonic FX580 has outer measurements of 95mm x 57mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs) and the Pentax K-3 has dimensions of 131mm x 100mm x 77mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") with a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs).

Contrast the Panasonic FX580 and Pentax K-3 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you choose at the time. Here is a front view scale comparison of the FX580 and the K-3.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the FX580 and K-3 is 95 and 59 respectively.

Typically, it is difficult to visualize the contrast between sensor dimensions just by reading specs. The picture here will help provide you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the FX580 and K-3.

As you can plainly see, both of the cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The FX580 because of its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field harder and the Pentax K-3 will deliver greater detail utilizing its extra 12MP. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop photos a bit more aggressively. The more aged FX580 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor tech.