Pentax K100D S vs Pentax RS1500

Below is a thorough comparison of the Pentax K100D S vs Pentax RS1500, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and they are both offered by Pentax. There is a big difference between the image resolutions of the K100D S (6MP) and RS1500 (14MP) and the K100D S (APS-C) and RS1500 (1/2.3") enjoy totally different sensor size.

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The K100D S was manufactured 4 years earlier than the RS1500 and that is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Both cameras come with different body type with the Pentax K100D S being a Compact SLR camera and the Pentax RS1500 being a Compact camera.

Before getting in to a thorough comparison, below is a quick highlight of how the K100D S scores vs the RS1500 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Pentax K100D Super and Pentax Optio RS1500. The entire galleries are available at Pentax K100D S Gallery and Pentax RS1500 Gallery.

If you're looking to lug around your camera often, you need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Pentax K100D S offers physical measurements of 129mm x 91mm x 71mm (5.1" x 3.6" x 2.8") accompanied by a weight of 646 grams (1.42 lbs) and the Pentax RS1500 has measurements of 114mm x 58mm x 28mm (4.5" x 2.3" x 1.1") having a weight of 157 grams (0.35 lbs).

See the Pentax K100D S vs Pentax RS1500 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you select at that time. The following is the front view overall size comparison of the K100D S compared to the RS1500.

Looking at size and weight, the portability rating of the K100D S and RS1500 is 65 and 93 respectively.

Usually, its tough to visualise the difference between sensor measurements simply by reading through technical specs. The graphic below should give you a stronger sense of the sensor measurements in the K100D S and RS1500.

As you can tell, each of these cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The K100D S due to its bigger sensor will make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Pentax RS1500 will give more detail due to its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop shots somewhat more aggressively. The older K100D S is going to be behind with regard to sensor tech.