Panasonic ZS7 vs Pentax 645D

Its time to take a more detailed look at the Panasonic ZS7 and Pentax 645D, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Pro DSLR by competitors Panasonic and Pentax. There is a considerable difference between the sensor resolutions of the ZS7 (12MP) and 645D (40MP) and the ZS7 (1/2.3") and 645D (Medium format) boast different sensor sizes.

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The ZS7 was manufactured 17 months later than the 645D making them a generation apart from each other. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Panasonic ZS7 being a Compact camera and the Pentax 645D being a Large SLR camera.

Before delving right into a complete comparison, here is a brief introduction of how the ZS7 matches up vs the 645D in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 & Pentax 645D. The entire galleries are viewable at Panasonic ZS7 Gallery & Pentax 645D Gallery.

For anyone who is looking to lug around your camera frequently, you need to factor its weight and volume. The Panasonic ZS7 offers outer dimensions of 103mm x 60mm x 33mm (4.1" x 2.4" x 1.3") having a weight of 218 grams (0.48 lbs) while the Pentax 645D has sizing of 156mm x 117mm x 119mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 4.7") along with a weight of 1480 grams (3.26 lbs).

Check the Panasonic ZS7 and Pentax 645D in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are employing at that moment. Underneath is a front view over all size comparison of the ZS7 and the 645D.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the ZS7 and 645D is 91 and 50 respectively.

Often, its difficult to visualize the gap between sensor measurements simply by reading a spec sheet. The photograph below will offer you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the ZS7 and 645D.

Clearly, both of these cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The ZS7 featuring a tinier sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field harder and the Pentax 645D will offer you more detail due to its extra 28MP. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop pics more aggressively. The newer ZS7 provides an edge in sensor innovation.