Pentax K-3 vs. Pentax KP

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

Side by side comparison and review of Pentax K-3 and Pentax KP. Compare design, sensors, zoom functions, batteries and other key specifications and features to simplify the choice of your perfect digital camera. Our goal is to make it easier for you to decide on the camera that will best meet your expectations by revealing the main differences between the products.

Camera Specifications Comparison

Pentax K-3 vs. Pentax KP Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Product Type Digital camera - SLR with movie recording Digital camera - 1080p - SLR with Live View mode, movie recording
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 10 cm 10.1 cm
Width 13.15 cm 13.15 cm
Depth 7.75 cm 7.6 cm
Weight 715 g 642 g
Weight Details - Camera body only: 642 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 703 g
Body Material Magnesium alloy Magnesium alloy
Enclosure Colour Black Black
Protection Weatherproof, freezeproof, dust-resistant Weatherproof, freezeproof, dust-resistant
SENSOR Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Sensor Resolution 23.35 Megapixel 24.32 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type CMOS CMOS
Total Pixels 24,710,000 pixels 24,960,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 23,350,000 pixels 24,320,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm)
Frame Rate (Max Resolution) - 60 fps
Sensor Dust Reduction - Yes
Sensor Features Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), anti-aliasing simulator function Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration)
Image Stabiliser Optical (image sensor shift mechanism) Optical (image sensor shift mechanism)
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser Yes Yes
Sensors Dust alert sensor, digital level metre Digital level metre
PROCESSOR Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Image Processor PRIME III PRIME IV
LENS Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Lens Mounting Type Pentax K Pentax KAF2
FOCUSING Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Auto Focus TTL phase detection TTL contrast and phase detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 27 27
Auto Focus Features - Focus Peaking function
AE/AF Control - Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF
Face Detection Yes Face-priority AF function
VIEWFINDER Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Viewfinder Type Optical - fixed eye-level pentaprism Optical - fixed eye-level pentaprism
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage 100% 100%
Optical Viewfinder Magnification 0.95x 0.95x
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range -2.5 to +1.5 -2.5 to +1.5
Interchangeable Focusing Screens Yes Yes
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
ISO (Max) 51200 819200
Native ISO 100-51200 100-819200
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-51200, ISO auto (100-51200) ISO auto, ISO 100-819200
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot
Exposure Modes Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, ISO priority, shutter & aperture priority Bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, ISO priority, shutter & aperture priority
Bracketing Modes - Depth of field bracketing, motion bracketing
Special Effects Soft, Slim, Pastel, fisheye, natural, bright, Vibrant, Sketch, monochrome, Muted, landscape, portrait, Water Colour, miniature, Cross Process, Retro, Colour Extract, Toy camera, starburst, High contrast, Colour Invert, Bleach Bypass, Posterisation, Radiant, Reversal Film, Shading, Tone Expansion, Bold Monochrome, Unicolour Bold Soft, Slim, Pastel, fisheye, natural, bright, Vibrant, Sketch, monochrome, Muted, Flat, landscape, portrait, Water Colour, miniature, Cross Process, Retro, Colour Extract, Toy camera, starburst, High contrast, Colour Invert, Bleach Bypass, Posterisation, Radiant, Reversal Film, Shading, Tone Expansion, Bold Monochrome, Unicolour Bold, Colour replace
White Balance Custom, automatic, presets Custom, automatic, presets
White Balance Presets Cloudy, tungsten light, Flash, daylight, shade, fluorescent light (cool white), fluorescent light (daylight), fluorescent light (warm white), Color Temperature Enhancement (CTE), fluorescent light (daylight white) Cloudy, tungsten light, Flash, daylight, shade, fluorescent light (cool white), fluorescent light (warm white), Color Temperature Enhancement (CTE), fluorescent light (daylight colour), fluorescent light (daylight white)
Shutter Type Mechanical electronically-controlled Mechanical electronically-controlled
Max Shutter Speed 1/8000 sec 1/24000 sec
Min Shutter Speed 30 sec 30 sec
Exposure Compensation ±5 EV range, in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps ±5 EV range, in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps
Auto Exposure Bracketing 2, 3 or 5 steps 2, 3 or 5 steps
X-sync Speed 1/180 sec 1/180 sec
Exposure Range EV -3-20 (ISO 100) EV -3-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Type 3.2" LCD display 3" LCD display
Display Format 1,037,000 pixels 921,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Built-in Folding
Display Features Colour control Display brightness control, display colour control, display saturation control
FLASH Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Camera Flash Pop-up flash Pop-up flash
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 13 6
Flash Modes Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction, P-TTL, slow sync
Red-Eye Reduction Yes Yes
Features AF illuminator, flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control Flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Digital Video Format AVI, MJPEG, H.264 MJPEG, H.264
Image Recording Format JPEG, DNG (RAW) + JPEG, DNG (RAW) JPEG, RAW + JPEG, DNG (RAW), PEF (RAW)
Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Microphone Operation Mode Mono Stereo
Microphone Features Sensitivity control Sensitivity control
MEMORY Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Memory Card Slot Dual SD card SD card
Supported Memory Cards SD Memory Card, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, SDHC UHS-I Memory Card, SDXC UHS-I Memory Card SD Memory Card, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, SDHC UHS-I Memory Card, SDXC UHS-I Memory Card
Memory Card Included - No
Image Storage RAW 6016 x 4000
JPEG 6016 x 4000
JPEG 4608 x 3072
JPEG 3072 x 2048
JPEG 1920 x 1280
JPEG 6016 x 4000
JPEG 4608 x 3072
JPEG 3072 x 2048
JPEG 1920 x 1280
RAW 6016 x 4000
Video Capture H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 30 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 25 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 24 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 - 60 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 - 50 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 - 30 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 - 25 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 - 24 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 60 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 50 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 i - 60 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 i - 50 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 p - 30 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 p - 25 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 p - 24 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 p - 60 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 p - 50 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 p - 30 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 p - 25 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 p - 24 fps
BATTERY AND CHARGING Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Battery Type Pentax D-Li90 Lithium Ion Pentax D-Li109 Lithium Ion
Details Pentax D-Li90 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included) Pentax D-Li109 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included)
Battery Life Photo shooting - 560 shots (50% flash usage)
Photo shooting - 720 shots (flash off)
Playback - 6.2 hours
Photo shooting - 390 shots (50% flash usage)
Photo shooting - 420 shots (flash off)
Playback - 4.5 hours
CONNECTIONS Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Interface HDMI, USB 3.0 HDMI, USB 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g/n
Connectivity Features - Remote control via mobile devices, Wireless Image Transfer
Print Standard Exif Print support Exif Print support
Computer Connectivity - Mac, Windows
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe
Connector Type USB 2.0
HDMI output
Microphone
Headphones
Remote control
USB 2.0
HDMI output
Microphone (mini-phone 3.5mm)
FEATURES Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Self-Timer Delay 2sec, 12sec 2sec, 12sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 8.3 frames per second 3 frames per second, 0.8 frames per second, 7 frames per second
HDR Mode Auto HDR mode Auto HDR mode
Additional Features Audio recording, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, AE lock, AF lock, cropping an image, resizing an image, saturation control, GPS ready, interval shooting mode, mirror lock, in-camera RAW processing, peripheral illumination correction, HDR image enhancement technology, Shade Correction, Eye-Fi Card Ready, NR Slow Shutter, High ISO NR, Dynamic Range Compensation, no anti-aliasing filter, Lens Distortion Correction, primary colour filter, Interval Movie Record, Automatic composition correction function, colour moire correction, Lateral Chromatic Aberration Correction, Flucard Ready Digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, cropping an image, resizing an image, interval shooting mode, highlight point display, in-camera film editing, mirror lock, in-camera RAW processing, peripheral illumination correction, horizon correction, HDR image enhancement technology, Eye-Fi Card Ready, Dynamic Range Compensation, noise reduction over long exposures, Lens Distortion Correction, high ISO speed noise reduction, primary colour filter, colour moire correction, Lateral Chromatic Aberration Correction, Flucard Ready, anti-aliasing filter simulator, diffraction correction, Pixel Shift Resolution technology, multiple exposure capture
OTHERS Pentax K-3 Pentax KP
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable, eyecup, shoe cap, battery grip terminal cover, sync terminal cover Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, eyecup, shoe cap
Software Drivers & Utilities Drivers & Utilities
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature -10 °C -10 °C
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