Pentax K-3 vs. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

Detailed comparison and review of Pentax K-3 and Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II. With our comprehensive overview, you can simply compare design, sensors, proximity characteristics, memory capacities, but also other key features of both cameras and easily decide which one is the right choice for you. Our goal is to help you identify the main differences between products and find the camera that best fits your needs and expectations.

Camera Specifications Comparison

Pentax K-3 vs. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Product Type Digital camera - SLR with movie recording Digital camera - mirrorless system
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 10 cm 8.5 cm
Width 13.15 cm 12.37 cm
Depth 7.75 cm 3.8 cm
Weight 715 g 417 g
Body Material Magnesium alloy Magnesium alloy
Enclosure Colour Black Black | Silver
Protection Weatherproof, freezeproof, dust-resistant Weatherproof, splashproof, dust-resistant
SENSOR Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Sensor Resolution 23.35 Megapixel 16.05 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type CMOS Live MOS
Total Pixels 24,710,000 pixels 17,200,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 23,350,000 pixels 16,050,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) Four Thirds (4/3")
Sensor Dust Reduction - Yes
Sensor Features Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), anti-aliasing simulator function Supersonic Wave Filter (SWF)
Image Stabiliser Optical (image sensor shift mechanism) Optical (5-axis 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 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Image Processor PRIME III TruePic VII
LENS Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Lens Mounting Type Pentax K Micro Four Thirds
FOCUSING Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Auto Focus TTL phase detection TTL contrast detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 27 81
Auto Focus Features - Focus Peaking function, Manual Focus Check Live View
AE/AF Control - Subject-tracking AF, Eye detection AF
Face Detection Yes Eye Detect AF
VIEWFINDER Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Viewfinder Type Optical - fixed eye-level pentaprism Built-in - electronic
Viewfinder Colour Support - Colour
Viewfinder Resolution - 2,360,000 pixels
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage 100% 100%
Optical Viewfinder Magnification 0.95x 1.48x
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range -2.5 to +1.5 -4 to +2
Viewfinder Information - Shutter speed, exposure compensation, AF-in-focus, aperture, frame counter, white balance, metering system, Exposure Mode, exposure bracketing, battery status, AF lock
Field of View Crop Factor - 2
Interchangeable Focusing Screens Yes -
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
ISO (Max) 51200 25600
Native ISO 100-51200 100-25600
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-51200, ISO auto (100-51200) ISO 100, ISO auto (100-25600), ISO 200-25600
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot
Exposure Metering Zones - 324
Exposure Modes Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, ISO priority, shutter & aperture priority Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority
Bracketing Modes - Art Filter bracketing, ISO sensitivity bracketing, Shadow Adjustment Technology, Flash Exposure Bracketing
Shooting Programs - Landscape, portrait mode, macro, beach/snow, landscape-portrait, Children, fireworks, 3D image, multiple exposure, panorama assist, night scene, panning, sports mode, sunset, candle, high key, night scene with portrait, low key, documents, nature macro, e-portrait, fisheye converter, wide converter, macro converter, handheld starlight, digital IS
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 Art, Black & White, Sepia, Monotone, Black & White Red filter, Black & White Yellow filter, Vivid, purple, blue, green, soft focus, natural, Black & White Green filter, Muted, portrait, Diorama, Cross Process, composite, partial colour, Grainy Film, Light Tone, Pop Art, Pale & Light Colour, pin hole, Gentle Sepia, i-Enhance, Dramatic Tone, Key Line, Vintage
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) Fluorescent, sunlight, tungsten light, Flash, shade, overcast, Underwater, 2000K - 14000K
Shutter Type Mechanical electronically-controlled Mechanical
Max Shutter Speed 1/8000 sec 1/8000 sec
Min Shutter Speed 30 sec 60 sec
Exposure Compensation ±5 EV range, in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps ±5 EV range, in 1, 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps
Auto Exposure Bracketing 2, 3 or 5 steps 2, 3, 5 steps in 1/3, 1/2, 1 EV steps
White Balance Bracketing - Yes
X-sync Speed 1/180 sec 1/250sec, 1/8000 sec
Exposure Range EV -3-20 (ISO 100) EV -2-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Type 3.2" LCD display 3" LCD display
Touch Screen - Yes
Display Format 1,037,000 pixels 1,037,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Built-in Folding
Display Features Colour control Display brightness control, display colour control, Touch AF
FLASH Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Camera Flash Pop-up flash Detachable flash
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 13 12.9
Flash Modes Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction
Red-Eye Reduction Yes Yes
Features AF illuminator, flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control AF illuminator, flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control, flash exposure bracketing
External Flash Name - Olympus FL-LM3
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Digital Video Format AVI, MJPEG, H.264 AVI, MJPEG, H.264, MOV
Image Recording Format JPEG, DNG (RAW) + JPEG, DNG (RAW) JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG, MPO
Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Microphone Operation Mode Mono Stereo
Microphone Features Sensitivity control Wind noise reduction, sensitivity control
MEMORY Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
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
RAW 4608 x 3456 - 17 MB
JPEG 4608 x 3456 - 7.5 MB
JPEG 4608 x 3456 - 3.5 MB
JPEG 3200 x 2400 - 1.7 MB
JPEG 1280 x 960 - 0.4 MB
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
MOV - 1920 x 1080 - 30 fps
MOV - 1920 x 1080 - 25 fps
MOV - 1920 x 1080 - 24 fps
MOV - 1920 x 1080 - 60 fps
MOV - 1920 x 1080 - 50 fps
MOV - 1280 x 720 - 60 fps
MOV - 1280 x 720 - 50 fps
MOV - 1280 x 720 - 30 fps
MOV - 1280 x 720 - 25 fps
MOV - 1280 x 720 - 24 fps
MJPEG - 1280 x 720 - 30 fps
MJPEG - 640 x 480 - 30 fps
BATTERY AND CHARGING Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Battery Type Pentax D-Li90 Lithium Ion Olympus BLN-1 Lithium Ion
Details Pentax D-Li90 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included) Olympus BLN-1 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 - 750 shots
CONNECTIONS Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Interface HDMI, USB 3.0 Composite video/audio, HDMI, USB 2.0, Wireless LAN
Connectivity Features - Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view
Print Standard Exif Print support DPOF support, Exif Print support, PictBridge support, PRINT Image Matching
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe
Connector Type USB 2.0
HDMI output
Microphone
Headphones
Remote control
USB 2.0
Composite video/audio output
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
FEATURES Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
Self-Timer Delay 2sec, 12sec 2sec, 12sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 8.3 frames per second 5 frames per second, 10 frames per second
HDR Mode Auto HDR mode Auto HDR mode, HDR post-processing
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 Audio recording, built-in speaker, RGB primary colour filter, auto power save, digital noise reduction, sharpness control, histogram display, AE lock, AF lock, cropping an image, resizing an image, saturation control, in-camera red-eye fix, interval shooting mode, contrast control, face detection, digital tele-converter, Shadow Adjustment Technology, in-camera RAW processing, Full-time Live View, Intelligent AUTO (iAUTO), Eye-Fi Card Ready, Touch Shutter technology, GPS via mobile
OTHERS Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
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, USB cable
Software Drivers & Utilities Drivers & Utilities, Olympus Viewer 3
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature -10 °C -10 °C
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