Pentax K-7 vs Sony HX5

Below is a thorough analysis of the Pentax K-7 versus Sony HX5, one being a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Compact by competitors Pentax and Sony. There is a crucial difference between the sensor resolutions of the K-7 (15MP) and HX5 (10MP) and the K-7 (APS-C) and HX5 (1/2.4") offer totally different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The K-7 was manufactured 8 months before the HX5 and they are both of a similar generation. The two cameras have different body design with the Pentax K-7 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony HX5 being a Compact camera.

Before diving right into a thorough comparison, here is a brief synopsis of how the K-7 scores vs the HX5 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Pentax K-7 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5. The entire galleries are provided at Pentax K-7 Gallery and Sony HX5 Gallery.

If you're going to lug around your camera regularly, you are going to need to think about its weight and dimensions. The Pentax K-7 enjoys outer measurements of 131mm x 97mm x 73mm (5.2" x 3.8" x 2.9") and a weight of 750 grams (1.65 lbs) while the Sony HX5 has dimensions of 102mm x 58mm x 29mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.1") accompanied by a weight of 200 grams (0.44 lbs).

See the Pentax K-7 versus Sony HX5 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you are employing at that moment. Below is a front view dimensions comparison of the K-7 and the HX5.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the K-7 and HX5 is 60 and 92 respectively.

In many cases, it's difficult to see the difference between sensor measurements just by going over specs. The visual below will offer you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the K-7 and HX5.

As you can plainly see, both of those cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The K-7 due to its larger sensor will make getting shallower DOF simpler and the Pentax K-7 will offer more detail due to its extra 5 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also allow you to crop images more aggressively. The older K-7 is going to be behind in sensor technology.