Panasonic ZS8 vs Pentax K-S2

Below, we are evaluating the Panasonic ZS8 and Pentax K-S2, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by rivals Panasonic and Pentax. There exists a sizable gap among the sensor resolutions of the ZS8 (14MP) and K-S2 (20MP) and the ZS8 (1/2.3") and K-S2 (APS-C) enjoy different sensor dimensions.

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The ZS8 was manufactured 4 years before the K-S2 which is a fairly significant difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Panasonic ZS8 being a Compact camera and the Pentax K-S2 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going straight into a detailed comparison, below is a simple introduction of how the ZS8 grades vs the K-S2 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 & Pentax K-S2. The entire galleries are provided at Panasonic ZS8 Gallery & Pentax K-S2 Gallery.

For those who are going to travel with your camera often, you are going to need to take into account its weight and size. The Panasonic ZS8 enjoys external measurements of 105mm x 58mm x 33mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.3") along with a weight of 210 grams (0.46 lbs) while the Pentax K-S2 has specifications of 123mm x 91mm x 73mm (4.8" x 3.6" x 2.9") along with a weight of 678 grams (1.49 lbs).

See the Panasonic ZS8 and Pentax K-S2 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you are using at that time. Here is the front view measurements comparison of the ZS8 compared to the K-S2.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the ZS8 and K-S2 is 92 and 64 respectively.

More often than not, it is very difficult to picture the difference in sensor dimensions merely by viewing specs. The picture below may provide you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the ZS8 and K-S2.

All in all, the two cameras have got different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The ZS8 featuring a smaller sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field harder and the Pentax K-S2 will provide you with extra detail due to its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will enable you to crop images much more aggressively. The more aged ZS8 will be behind in sensor tech.