Pentax K-3 vs. Canon EOS 1D X Mark II

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

Detailed comparison and review of Pentax K-3 and Canon EOS 1D X 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. Canon EOS 1D X Mark II Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Product Type Digital camera - SLR with movie recording Digital camera - 4K - SLR with Live View mode, movie recording
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 10 cm 16.76 cm
Width 13.15 cm 15.8 cm
Depth 7.75 cm 8.26 cm
Weight 715 g 1.34 kg
Body Material Magnesium alloy -
Enclosure Colour Black -
Protection Weatherproof, freezeproof, dust-resistant -
SENSOR Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Sensor Resolution 23.35 Megapixel 20.2 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type CMOS CMOS
Total Pixels 24,710,000 pixels 21,560,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 23,350,000 pixels 20,200,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) Full Frame (36 x 24 mm)
Frame Rate (Max Resolution) - 59.94 fps
Sensor Dust Reduction - Yes
Sensor Features Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), anti-aliasing simulator function Self Cleaning Sensor Unit, Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration)
Image Stabiliser Optical (image sensor shift mechanism) -
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser Yes -
Sensors Dust alert sensor, digital level metre -
PROCESSOR Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Image Processor PRIME III -
LENS Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Lens Mounting Type Pentax K Canon EF
FOCUSING Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Auto Focus TTL phase detection TTL phase detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 27 61
Auto Focus Features - Predictive Focus Control
AE/AF Control - Predictive AI Servo AF, Zone AF
Face Detection Yes -
VIEWFINDER Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Viewfinder Type Optical - fixed eye-level pentaprism Optical - fixed eye-level pentaprism
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage 100% 100%
Optical Viewfinder Magnification 0.95x 0.76x
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range -2.5 to +1.5 -3 to +1
Viewfinder Information - Shutter speed, exposure compensation, AE lock, flash charge completion, aperture, white balance, metering system, battery status, flash compensation on/off, highlight tone priority, ISO sensitivity, memory card status, FE lock, AF status, AF point
Field of View Crop Factor - 1.0
Interchangeable Focusing Screens Yes -
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
ISO (Max) 51200 51200
Native ISO 100-51200 100-51200
Extended ISO (Max) - 102400 (H1), 204800 (H2), 409600 (H3)
Extended ISO (Min) - 50
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-51200, ISO auto (100-51200) ISO 100, ISO auto, ISO 200-51200, ISO 400-1600
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Evaluative, multi-spot, centre-weighted, spot
Exposure Metering Zones - 216
Exposure Modes Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, ISO priority, shutter & aperture priority Programme, bulb, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, E-TTL II program flash
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 Neutral, Faithful, monochrome, landscape, portrait, Standard, Fine Detail
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 (daylight white)
Shutter Type Mechanical electronically-controlled Mechanical electronically-controlled
Max Shutter Speed 1/8000 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 2, 3 or 5 steps 3 steps in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps
X-sync Speed 1/180 sec 1/250sec
Exposure Range EV -3-20 (ISO 100) EV 0-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Type 3.2" LCD display 3.2" LCD display
Display Format 1,037,000 pixels 1,620,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Built-in Built-in
Display Features Colour control Display brightness control
FLASH Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Camera Flash Pop-up flash -
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 13 -
Flash Modes Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction -
Red-Eye Reduction Yes -
Features AF illuminator, flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control -
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Digital Video Format AVI, MJPEG, H.264 H.264, MOV, AVC
Image Recording Format JPEG, DNG (RAW) + JPEG, DNG (RAW) JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG
Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 4096 x 2160
Microphone Operation Mode Mono Mono
Microphone Features Sensitivity control -
MEMORY Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Memory Card Slot Dual SD card CompactFlash Card
Supported Memory Cards SD Memory Card, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, SDHC UHS-I Memory Card, SDXC UHS-I Memory Card CompactFlash
Memory Card - 64 GB CFast 2.0
Memory Card Included - Yes
Image Storage RAW 6016 x 4000
JPEG 6016 x 4000
JPEG 4608 x 3072
JPEG 3072 x 2048
JPEG 1920 x 1280
JPEG 5472 x 3648
JPEG 4368 x 2912
JPEG 3648 x 2432
JPEG 2736 x 1824
RAW 5472 x 3648
RAW 4104 x 2736
RAW 2736 x 1824
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 - 4096 x 2160 - 59.94 fps
H.264 - 4096 x 2160 - 50 fps
H.264 - 4096 x 2160 - 29.97 fps
H.264 - 4096 x 2160 - 25 fps
H.264 - 4096 x 2160 - 24 fps
H.264 - 4096 x 2160 - 23.98 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 119.9 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 100 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 59.94 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 50 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 29.97 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 25 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 24 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 23.98 fps
BATTERY AND CHARGING Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Battery Type Pentax D-Li90 Lithium Ion Canon LP-E19 Lithium Ion
Details Pentax D-Li90 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included) Canon LP-E19 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included)
Battery Life Photo shooting - 560 shots (50% flash usage)
Photo shooting - 720 shots (flash off)
Playback - 6.2 hours
-
CONNECTIONS Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Interface HDMI, USB 3.0 Composite video/audio, HDMI, USB 3.0
Print Standard Exif Print support Direct print, DPOF support, Exif Print support, PictBridge support
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe, PC terminal
Connector Type USB 2.0
HDMI output
Microphone
Headphones
Remote control
USB 3.0
Composite video/audio output
HDMI output (19 pin mini HDMI Type C)
Microphone
FEATURES Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Self-Timer Delay 2sec, 12sec 10 sec, 2sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 8.3 frames per second 4 frames per second, 5 frames per second, 13 frames per second, 16 frames per second
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 Audio recording, RGB primary colour filter, auto power save, digital noise reduction, depth-of-field preview button, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, AE lock, AF lock, FE lock, GPS ready, LCD live view mode, highlight point display, Dust Delete Data system, face detection, mirror lock, Auto Lighting Optimizer, in-camera RAW processing, peripheral illumination correction, Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC), NR Slow Shutter, distortion control, High ISO NR, Quad Active Mirror Stopper, touch pad control
OTHERS Pentax K-3 Canon EOS 1D X 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, neck strap, eyecup, interface cable, cable protector
Software Drivers & Utilities EOS Digital Solution
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 45 °C
Min Operating Temperature -10 °C 0 °C
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