Panasonic ZS50 vs Pentax K-500

Its time to take a more detailed look at the Panasonic ZS50 versus Pentax K-500, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Panasonic and Pentax. There exists a sizable gap among the sensor resolutions of the ZS50 (12MP) and K-500 (16MP) and the ZS50 (1/2.3") and K-500 (APS-C) come with different sensor size.

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The ZS50 was revealed 14 months after the K-500 making the cameras a generation away from one another. Both cameras come with different body type with the Panasonic ZS50 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-500 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before we go through a thorough comparison, below is a brief introduction of how the ZS50 matches up versus the K-500 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS50 & Pentax K-500. The full galleries are viewable at Panasonic ZS50 Gallery & Pentax K-500 Gallery.

If you're going to carry around your camera, you will have to think about its weight and proportions. The Panasonic ZS50 has exterior dimensions of 111mm x 65mm x 34mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.3") and a weight of 243 grams (0.54 lbs) whilst the Pentax K-500 has measurements of 130mm x 97mm x 71mm (5.1" x 3.8" x 2.8") accompanied by a weight of 646 grams (1.42 lbs).

Look at the Panasonic ZS50 versus Pentax K-500 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are utilising at the time. Following is the front view overall size comparison of the ZS50 versus the K-500.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the ZS50 and K-500 is 90 and 64 respectively.

Sometimes, it's hard to visualize the difference in sensor sizes only by looking through a spec sheet. The picture here might provide you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the ZS50 and K-500.

As you can see, the 2 cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The ZS50 using its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallow depth of field tougher and the Pentax K-500 will provide you with more detail because of its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will help you crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The more modern ZS50 should have an edge when it comes to sensor technology.