Pentax P80 vs Sony NEX-7

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Pentax P80 versus Sony NEX-7, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Advanced Mirrorless by manufacturers Pentax and Sony. There is a significant difference among the image resolutions of the P80 (12MP) and NEX-7 (24MP) and the P80 (1/2.3") and NEX-7 (APS-C) possess totally different sensor size.

Meta to Introduce 'AI-Generated' Labels for Media starting next month

The P80 was announced 3 years before the NEX-7 and that is a fairly sizable gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Pentax P80 being a Compact camera and the Sony NEX-7 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting through a full comparison, below is a quick overview of how the P80 scores vs the NEX-7 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Pentax Optio P80 and Sony Alpha NEX-7. The whole galleries are viewable at Pentax P80 Gallery and Sony NEX-7 Gallery.

When you are going to lug around your camera regularly, you're going to have to consider its weight and volume. The Pentax P80 offers exterior measurements of 102mm x 59mm x 25mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.0") and a weight of 125 grams (0.28 lbs) and the Sony NEX-7 has sizing of 120mm x 67mm x 43mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 1.7") having a weight of 400 grams (0.88 lbs).

Take a look at the Pentax P80 versus Sony NEX-7 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you choose during that time. Following is the front view physical size comparison of the P80 versus the NEX-7.

Looking at size and weight, the portability score of the P80 and NEX-7 is 95 and 84 respectively.

In many cases, its hard to visualise the contrast in sensor measurements simply by seeing technical specs. The visual underneath will provide you a better sense of the sensor sizing in the P80 and NEX-7.

As you have seen, the 2 cameras have got different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The P80 using its smaller sensor will make shooting shallow DOF trickier and the Sony NEX-7 will show extra detail with its extra 12 Megapixels. Greater resolution will let you crop images much more aggressively. The older P80 will be behind in sensor innovation.