Panasonic ZS3 vs Pentax K-3 II

Below is a extended review of the Panasonic ZS3 and Pentax K-3 II, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by rivals Panasonic and Pentax. There exists a sizable gap between the sensor resolutions of the ZS3 (10MP) and K-3 II (24MP) and the ZS3 (1/2.3") and K-3 II (APS-C) use totally different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The ZS3 was revealed 7 years before the K-3 II and that is quite a significant difference as far as technology is concerned. Each of these cameras offer different body type with the Panasonic ZS3 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-3 II being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before getting through a comprehensive comparison, below is a simple summary of how the ZS3 scores versus the K-3 II in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 & Pentax K-3 II. The full galleries are available at Panasonic ZS3 Gallery & Pentax K-3 II Gallery.

When you are going to lug around your camera, you're going to have to take into account its weight and size. The Panasonic ZS3 features exterior measurements of 103mm x 60mm x 33mm (4.1" x 2.4" x 1.3") with a weight of 229 grams (0.50 lbs) and the Pentax K-3 II has specifications of 131mm x 100mm x 77mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") and a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs).

Check the Panasonic ZS3 and Pentax K-3 II in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you have attached at that moment. The following is the front view over all size comparison of the ZS3 versus the K-3 II.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the ZS3 and K-3 II is 91 and 59 respectively.

Normally, its difficult to see the contrast between sensor measurements simply by checking specs. The photograph below should provide you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the ZS3 and K-3 II.

All in all, both cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The ZS3 using its tinier sensor will make shooting shallower depth of field more challenging and the Pentax K-3 II will resolve extra detail because of its extra 14 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also allow you to crop photographs far more aggressively. The older ZS3 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor tech.