Pentax K-3 vs. Olympus OM-D E-M1X

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

Detailed comparison and review of Pentax K-3 and Olympus OM-D E-M1X. 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-M1X Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Product Type Digital camera - SLR with movie recording Digital camera - 4K - mirrorless system
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 10 cm 14.68 cm
Width 13.15 cm 14.44 cm
Depth 7.75 cm 7.54 cm
Weight 715 g 849 g
Weight Details - Camera with battery: 849 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 997 g
Body Material Magnesium alloy Magnesium alloy
Enclosure Colour Black Black
Protection Weatherproof, freezeproof, dust-resistant Splashproof, freezeproof, dust-resistant, IPX1
Navigation - GPS receiver
SENSOR Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Sensor Resolution 23.35 Megapixel 20.4 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type CMOS Live MOS
Total Pixels 24,710,000 pixels 21,770,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 23,350,000 pixels 20,400,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) Four Thirds (4/3")
Frame Rate (Max Resolution) - 24 fps
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 Barometer, magnetometer, temperature
PROCESSOR Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Image Processor PRIME III Dual TruePic VIII
LENS Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Lens Mounting Type Pentax K Micro Four Thirds
FOCUSING Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Auto Focus TTL phase detection TTL contrast and phase detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 27 121
Auto Focus Features - Focus Peaking function, Frequency Accelerating Sensor Technology (F.A.S.T.) AF system
AE/AF Control - Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF, Touch Area AF, Eye detection AF, Subject detection AF
Face Detection Yes Eye Detect AF, face-priority AF function
VIEWFINDER Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Viewfinder Type Optical - fixed eye-level pentaprism Electronic - LCD
Viewfinder Colour Support - Colour
Viewfinder Resolution - 2,360,000 pixels
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage 100% 100%
Optical Viewfinder Magnification 0.95x 1.65x
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range -2.5 to +1.5 -4 to +2
Field of View Crop Factor - 2
Interchangeable Focusing Screens Yes -
Features - Auto eye sensor
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
ISO (Max) 51200 25600
Native ISO 100-51200 200-25600
Extended ISO (Min) - 64
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-51200, ISO auto (100-51200) ISO 100, ISO 64, ISO auto (200-6400), 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, focus bracketing, ISO sensitivity bracketing, Flash Exposure Bracketing, white balance 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 -
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) Incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, sunlight, Flash, shade, Underwater, 3000K - 7500K
Shutter Type Mechanical electronically-controlled Mechanical electronically-controlled
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 -
White Balance Bracketing - Yes
X-sync Speed 1/180 sec 1/250sec
Exposure Range EV -3-20 (ISO 100) EV -2-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
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 Rotating
Display Features Colour control -
FLASH Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
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 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Digital Video Format AVI, MJPEG, H.264 H.264, MOV
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 Stereo
Microphone Features Sensitivity control -
MEMORY Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Memory Card Slot Dual SD card Dual 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, SDHC UHS-II Memory Card, SDXC UHS-II 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 5184 x 3888
JPEG 5184 x 3888
RAW 8160 x 6120 - High Resolution Mode
JPEG 8160 x 6120 - High Resolution Mode
JPEG 5760 x 4320 - High Resolution Mode
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
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BATTERY AND CHARGING Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Battery Type Pentax D-Li90 Lithium Ion Olympus BLH-1 Lithium Ion
Details Pentax D-Li90 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included) 2 x Olympus BLH-1 Li-ion rechargeable battery - 1720 mAh (included)
Battery Life Photo shooting - 560 shots (50% flash usage)
Photo shooting - 720 shots (flash off)
Playback - 6.2 hours
Photo shooting - 2580 shots (quick sleep mode)
Photo shooting - 870 shots
Video recording - 170 minutes
CONNECTIONS Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Interface HDMI, USB 3.0 HDMI, USB 3.0, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2
Connectivity Features - Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view, QR code scanning
Print Standard Exif Print support DPOF support, Exif Print support
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe
Connector Type USB 2.0
HDMI output
Microphone
Headphones
Remote control
USB 3.0 (USB Type-C)
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
Microphone (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
Headphones (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
Remote control (sub-mini phone 2.5 mm)
FEATURES Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Self-Timer Delay 2sec, 12sec 2sec, 12sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 8.3 frames per second 15 frames per second, 60 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 Built-in speaker, auto power save, relay recording, USB charging, high-speed recording, Time-Lapse recording, Focus Stacking, Flickering Reduction function, 50-megapixel High Resolution mode
OTHERS Pentax K-3 Olympus OM-D E-M1X
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable, eyecup, shoe cap, battery grip terminal cover, sync terminal cover Carrying strap, battery charger, body cap, eyecup, cable clip, cable protector, hot shoe cover, USB-C cable, battery holder
Software Drivers & Utilities -
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature -10 °C -10 °C
Service & Support - Limited warranty - 2 years
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