Pentax K-50 vs. Pentax K-3 II

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Pentax K-50 and Pentax K-3 II. Compare design, sensors, proximity features, memory capacities and other important specifications and features to easily choose the right camera for you. Our goal is to help you uncover differences between the products and find the digital camera that will best fit your needs.

Camera Specifications Comparison

Pentax K-50 vs. Pentax K-3 II Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Product Type Digital camera - 1080p - SLR with Live View mode, movie recording Digital camera - 1080p - SLR with Live View mode, movie recording
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 9.65 cm 10.25 cm
Width 12.9 cm 13.15 cm
Depth 7 cm 7.75 cm
Weight 590 g 700 g
Body Material Stainless steel, fibre reinforced polycarbonate Stainless steel, magnesium alloy
Enclosure Colour Black | White | Red Black
Protection Weatherproof, freezeproof, dust-resistant Weatherproof, freezeproof, dust-resistant
Navigation - GPS receiver
SENSOR Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Sensor Resolution 16.3 Megapixel 24.35 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type CMOS CMOS
Total Pixels 16,500,000 pixels 24,710,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 16,300,000 pixels 24,350,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm)
Sensor Dust Reduction Yes -
Sensor Features Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), Special Protect (SP) coating Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), anti-aliasing simulator function
Image Stabiliser Optical (image sensor shift mechanism) -
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser Yes -
Sensors - Accelerometer, magnetometer, digital level metre
PROCESSOR Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Image Processor PRIME M -
LENS Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Lens Mounting Type Pentax KAF2 Pentax K
FOCUSING Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Auto Focus TTL contrast and phase detection TTL contrast and phase detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 11 27
Auto Focus Features Focus Peaking function -
AE/AF Control Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF -
Face Detection Yes Yes
VIEWFINDER Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Viewfinder Type Optical - fixed eye-level pentaprism Optical - fixed eye-level pentaprism
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage 100% 100%
Optical Viewfinder Magnification 0.92x 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-50 Pentax K-3 II
ISO (Max) 51200 51200
Native ISO - 100-51200
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-51200, ISO auto (100-51200) ISO 100-51200, ISO auto (100-51200)
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot
Exposure Metering Zones 77 -
Exposure Modes Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, ISO priority, shutter & aperture priority Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, ISO priority, shutter & aperture priority
Shooting Programs Landscape, portrait mode, macro, museum, surf & snow, PET, Blue Sky, food, night scene, sunset, candle, night snapshot, night scene with portrait, kids, Stage, night scene HDR, moving object, forest, backlight silhouette -
Special Effects Soft, Slim, Pastel, Colour, 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 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
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), fluorescent light (daylight white) 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)
Shutter Type - Mechanical electronically-controlled
Max Shutter Speed 1/6000 sec 1/8000 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 3 steps in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps 2, 3 or 5 steps
X-sync Speed 1/180 sec 1/180 sec
Exposure Range EV 0-22 (ISO 100) EV -3-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Type 3" LCD display 3.2" LCD display
Display Format 921,000 pixels 1,037,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Built-in Built-in
Display Features Display brightness control, display colour control Colour control, contrast control, display brightness control
FLASH Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Camera Flash Pop-up flash -
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 12 -
Flash Modes Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction, P-TTL -
Red-Eye Reduction Yes -
Features AF illuminator, flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control -
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Digital Video Format H.264 AVI, MJPEG, H.264
Image Recording Format JPEG, DNG (RAW) + JPEG, DNG (RAW) JPEG, DNG (RAW), PEF (RAW)
Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Microphone Operation Mode Mono Mono
Microphone Features Sensitivity control -
MEMORY Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Memory Card Slot SD card Dual SD card
Supported Memory Cards SD Memory Card, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC 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 4928 x 3264
JPEG 4928 x 3264
JPEG 4224 x 2816
JPEG 3456 x 2304
JPEG 2688 x 1792
RAW 6016 x 4000
JPEG 6016 x 4000
JPEG 4608 x 3072
JPEG 3072 x 2048
JPEG 1920 x 1280
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 - 640 x 480 - 30 fps
H.264 - 640 x 480 - 25 fps
H.264 - 640 x 480 - 24 fps
1920 x 1080
1280 x 720
BATTERY AND CHARGING Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Battery Type Pentax D-Li109 Lithium Ion Pentax D-Li90 Lithium Ion
Details Pentax D-Li109 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included) Pentax D-Li90 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included)
Battery Life Photo shooting - 480 shots (D-LI109 battery)
Photo shooting - 1250 shots (lithium AA batteries)
Playback - 4.5 hours (D-LI109 battery)
Playback - 9.3 hours (lithium AA batteries)
Photo shooting - 720 shots
Playback - 6.2 hours
CONNECTIONS Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Interface Composite video/audio, USB 2.0 Composite video/audio, HDMI, USB 3.0
Print Standard DPOF support, PRINT Image Matching Exif Print support
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe, PC terminal
Connector Type USB 2.0
Composite video/audio output
USB 3.0
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
Microphone (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
Headphones (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
Remote control
FEATURES Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Self-Timer Delay 2sec, 12sec 2sec, 12sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 3 frames per second, 6 frames per second 3 frames per second, 4.5 frames per second, 8.3 frames per second
HDR Mode - Auto HDR mode
Additional Features RGB primary colour filter, digital image rotation, histogram display, cropping an image, resizing an image, Scene Detection Technology, interval shooting mode, Dynamic Range Adjustment, in-camera RAW processing, Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC), HDR image enhancement technology, Eye-Fi Card Ready, NR Slow Shutter, High ISO NR, Dual Axis Electronic Level, date stamp, Lens Distortion Correction Audio recording, sharpness control, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, AE lock, AF lock, cropping an image, resizing an image, saturation control, interval shooting mode, in-camera film editing, in-camera RAW processing, peripheral illumination correction, HDR image enhancement technology, Shade Correction, Eye-Fi Card Ready, High ISO NR, no anti-aliasing filter, Lens Distortion Correction, primary colour filter, Automatic composition correction function, colour moire correction, Lateral Chromatic Aberration Correction, Flucard Ready, anti-aliasing filter simulator, diffraction correction, Pixel Shift Resolution technology, colour fringe correction
OTHERS Pentax K-50 Pentax K-3 II
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable, eyecup, shoe cap Eyepiece cover, carrying strap, battery charger, body cap, eyecup, shoe cap, sync terminal cover
Software Drivers & Utilities, SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.0 Drivers & Utilities
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature -10 °C -10 °C
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