Pentax K-500 vs Pentax I-10

Its time to look a little more closely at the Pentax K-500 versus Pentax I-10, one is a Entry-Level DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Compact and both of them are produced by Pentax. There exists a huge gap between the resolutions of the K-500 (16MP) and I-10 (12MP) and the K-500 (APS-C) and I-10 (1/2.3") feature different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The K-500 was unveiled 3 years after the I-10 which is quite a significant gap as far as technology is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Pentax K-500 being a Compact SLR camera and the Pentax I-10 being a Compact camera.

Before diving through a full comparison, below is a concise summary of how the K-500 matches up against the I-10 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Pentax K-500 and Pentax Optio I-10. The full galleries are viewable at Pentax K-500 Gallery and Pentax I-10 Gallery.

If you're aiming to carry around your camera, you'll need to think about its weight and dimensions. The Pentax K-500 comes with physical measurements of 130mm x 97mm x 71mm (5.1" x 3.8" x 2.8") with a weight of 646 grams (1.42 lbs) while the Pentax I-10 has dimensions of 101mm x 65mm x 28mm (4.0" x 2.6" x 1.1") with a weight of 153 grams (0.34 lbs).

Compare the Pentax K-500 versus Pentax I-10 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you are utilizing at that time. The following is the front view physical size comparison of the K-500 and the I-10.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability score of the K-500 and I-10 is 64 and 93 respectively.

Quite often, it's hard to visualize the difference between sensor sizes merely by reading specs. The pic below will give you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the K-500 and I-10.

As you can plainly see, both the cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The K-500 having a larger sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field easier and the Pentax K-500 will deliver extra detail having an extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also let you crop images somewhat more aggressively. The younger K-500 should have an edge in sensor innovation.