Panasonic ZS100 vs Pentax K-500

Its time to take a closer look at the Panasonic ZS100 versus Pentax K-500, one is a Large Sensor Compact and the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by brands Panasonic and Pentax. There exists a sizeable gap among the image resolutions of the ZS100 (20MP) and K-500 (16MP) and the ZS100 (1") and K-500 (APS-C) enjoy totally different sensor sizes.

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The ZS100 was revealed 2 years after the K-500 which is a fairly large gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of the cameras come with different body type with the Panasonic ZS100 being a Large Sensor Compact camera and the Pentax K-500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving in to a in depth comparison, below is a simple highlight of how the ZS100 scores against the K-500 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS100 and Pentax K-500. The full galleries are provided at Panasonic ZS100 Gallery and Pentax K-500 Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to carry around your camera frequently, you have to consider its weight and size. The Panasonic ZS100 comes with outer dimensions of 111mm x 65mm x 44mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 312 grams (0.69 lbs) and the Pentax K-500 has specifications of 130mm x 97mm x 71mm (5.1" x 3.8" x 2.8") accompanied by a weight of 646 grams (1.42 lbs).

Compare the Panasonic ZS100 versus Pentax K-500 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you have chosen at that moment. Below is the front view scale comparison of the ZS100 vs the K-500.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the ZS100 and K-500 is 87 and 64 respectively.

More often than not, it's hard to visualise the gap in sensor sizes purely by checking out specifications. The pic below might offer you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the ZS100 and K-500.

To sum up, both of those cameras have got different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The ZS100 with its smaller sensor will make shooting shallow depth of field harder and the Panasonic ZS100 will produce more detail because of its extra 4MP. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop pics much more aggressively. The fresher ZS100 will have an advantage in sensor technology.