Pentax K-3 II vs Sony A850

Its time to take a closer look at the Pentax K-3 II vs Sony A850, both Advanced DSLR cameras by companies Pentax and Sony. The image resolution of the K-3 II (24MP) and the A850 (25MP) is pretty close but the K-3 II (APS-C) and A850 (Full frame) use totally different sensor sizing.

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The K-3 II was manufactured 5 years after the A850 which is a fairly big gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of these cameras come with the identical body type (Mid-size SLR).

Before diving straight into a full comparison, below is a short overview of how the K-3 II matches up vs the A850 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Pentax K-3 II and Sony Alpha DSLR-A850. The entire galleries are viewable at Pentax K-3 II Gallery and Sony A850 Gallery.

When you are planning to carry around your camera often, you need to factor its weight and measurements. The Pentax K-3 II comes with outside dimensions of 131mm x 100mm x 77mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") having a weight of 800 grams (1.76 lbs) whilst the Sony A850 has proportions of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") having a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs).

Analyze the Pentax K-3 II vs Sony A850 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you use during that time. Following is the front view physical size comparison of the K-3 II vs the A850.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the K-3 II and A850 is 59 and 54 respectively.

In many cases, it's hard to see the gap in sensor sizes just by researching technical specs. The pic below will help provide you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the K-3 II and A850.

As you can tell, each of these cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The K-3 II due to its smaller sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field trickier and the Sony A850 will provide you with greater detail due to its extra 1 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also allow you to crop photographs somewhat more aggressively. The younger K-3 II is going to have an edge when it comes to sensor technology.