Panasonic ZS3 vs Pentax K-500

Below, we will be looking at the Panasonic ZS3 and Pentax K-500, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Panasonic and Pentax. There exists a large gap among the image resolutions of the ZS3 (10MP) and K-500 (16MP) and the ZS3 (1/2.3") and K-500 (APS-C) come with totally different sensor dimensions.

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The ZS3 was launched 5 years earlier than the K-500 and that is a fairly serious difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of the cameras come with different body type with the Panasonic ZS3 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving straight into a complete comparison, below is a short synopsis of how the ZS3 matches up vs the K-500 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 & Pentax K-500. The complete galleries are available at Panasonic ZS3 Gallery & Pentax K-500 Gallery.

If you're going to lug around your camera frequently, you will need to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Panasonic ZS3 has got outside dimensions of 103mm x 60mm x 33mm (4.1" x 2.4" x 1.3") and a weight of 229 grams (0.50 lbs) and the Pentax K-500 has dimensions of 130mm x 97mm x 71mm (5.1" x 3.8" x 2.8") having a weight of 646 grams (1.42 lbs).

Analyze the Panasonic ZS3 and Pentax K-500 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you choose at that moment. Following is the front view measurements comparison of the ZS3 vs the K-500.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the ZS3 and K-500 is 91 and 64 respectively.

Sometimes, it is very hard to visualise the gap in sensor measurements simply by looking through technical specs. The visual underneath will provide you a stronger sense of the sensor sizes in the ZS3 and K-500.

As you have seen, both of the cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The ZS3 featuring a smaller sensor will make shooting shallow depth of field more difficult and the Pentax K-500 will render more detail utilizing its extra 6MP. Higher resolution will allow you to crop photographs somewhat more aggressively. The older ZS3 will be behind with regard to sensor technology.