Pentax K-50 vs. Olympus PEN E-PL8

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Pentax K-50 and Olympus PEN E-PL8. 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. Olympus PEN E-PL8 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Product Type Digital camera - 1080p - SLR with Live View mode, movie recording Digital camera - 1080p - mirrorless system
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 9.65 cm 6.83 cm
Width 12.9 cm 11.71 cm
Depth 7 cm 3.84 cm
Weight 590 g 326 g
Weight Details - Camera body only: 326 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 374 g
Camera with battery, memory card and M.Zuiko 14-42mm II R lens: 491 g
Body Material Stainless steel, fibre reinforced polycarbonate -
Enclosure Colour Black | White | Red Black | White
Protection Weatherproof, freezeproof, dust-resistant -
SENSOR Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Sensor Resolution 16.3 Megapixel 16.1 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type CMOS Live MOS
Total Pixels 16,500,000 pixels 17,200,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 16,300,000 pixels 16,100,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) Four Thirds (17.3 x 13.0 mm)
Frame Rate (Max Resolution) - 30 fps
Sensor Dust Reduction Yes Yes
Sensor Features Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), Special Protect (SP) coating Supersonic Wave Filter (SWF)
Image Stabiliser Optical (image sensor shift mechanism) Optical (3-axis image sensor shift mechanism)
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser Yes Yes
PROCESSOR Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Image Processor PRIME M TruePic VII
LENS Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Lens Mounting Type Pentax KAF2 Micro Four Thirds
FOCUSING Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Auto Focus TTL contrast and phase detection TTL contrast detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 11 800
Auto Focus Features Focus Peaking function -
AE/AF Control Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF, Touch Area AF, Eye detection AF
Face Detection Yes Eye Detect AF
VIEWFINDER Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Viewfinder Type Optical - fixed eye-level pentaprism -
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage 100% -
Optical Viewfinder Magnification 0.92x -
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range -2.5 to +1.5 -
Interchangeable Focusing Screens Yes -
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
ISO (Max) 51200 25600
Native ISO - 100-25600
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-51200, ISO auto (100-51200) ISO 100-25600, ISO auto (100-25600)
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, highlight spot, shadow spot
Exposure Metering Zones 77 324
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, white balance bracketing
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 Sepia, Monotone, Neutral, Vivid, Custom Effect, soft focus, natural, Muted, Water Colour, Diorama, Cross Process, partial colour, Grainy Film, Light Tone, Pop Art, Pale & Light Colour, pin hole, Gentle Sepia, 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), fluorescent light (daylight white) Incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, sunlight, Flash, shade, Underwater, 2000K - 14000K
Shutter Type - Electronic
Max Shutter Speed 1/6000 sec 1/4000 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 3 steps in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps 7 steps in 1/3 or 2/3 EV steps
White Balance Bracketing - Yes
X-sync Speed 1/180 sec 1/125sec, 1/4000 sec
Exposure Range EV 0-22 (ISO 100) EV -2-20 - wide lens (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Type 3" LCD display 3" LCD display
Touch Screen - Yes
Display Format 921,000 pixels 1,037,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Built-in Folding
Display Features Display brightness control, display colour control Display brightness control, display colour control
FLASH Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Camera Flash Pop-up flash Detachable flash
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 12 10
Flash Modes Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction, P-TTL 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
External Flash Name - Olympus FL-LM1
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Digital Video Format 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-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Memory Card Slot SD card 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 4608 x 3456 - 17 MB
JPEG 4608 x 3456 - 7.5 MB
JPEG 4608 x 3456 - 3.5 MB
JPEG 2560 x 1920 - 1.1 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 - 640 x 480 - 30 fps
H.264 - 640 x 480 - 25 fps
H.264 - 640 x 480 - 24 fps
MOV - 1920 x 1080 p - 30 fps - 24Mbps
MOV - 1920 x 1080 p - 30 fps - 16Mbps
MOV - 1280 x 720 p - 30 fps - 12Mbps
MOV - 1280 x 720 p - 30 fps - 8Mbps
MJPEG - 1280 x 720 - 30 fps
MJPEG - 640 x 480 - 30 fps
BATTERY AND CHARGING Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Battery Type Pentax D-Li109 Lithium Ion Olympus BLS-50 Lithium Ion
Details Pentax D-Li109 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included) Olympus BLS-50 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 - 350 shots
Video recording - 2.5 hours
CONNECTIONS Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Interface Composite video/audio, USB 2.0 Composite video/audio, HDMI, USB 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g/n
Connectivity Features - Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view
Print Standard DPOF support, PRINT Image Matching DPOF support, Exif Print support, PRINT Image Matching
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe
Connector Type USB 2.0
Composite video/audio output
USB 2.0
Composite video/audio output
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
FEATURES Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Self-Timer Delay 2sec, 12sec 2sec, 12sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 3 frames per second, 6 frames per second 3.7 frames per second, 8.5 frames per second, 7.4 frames per second
HDR Mode - Auto HDR mode, HDR post-processing
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, built-in speaker, auto power save, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, shadow point display, highlight point display, in-camera RAW processing, Full-time Live View, Intelligent AUTO (iAUTO), Eye-Fi Card Ready, Touch Shutter technology
OTHERS Pentax K-50 Olympus PEN E-PL8
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable, eyecup, shoe cap Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable
Software Drivers & Utilities, SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.0 Drivers & Utilities, Olympus Viewer 3
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature -10 °C 0 °C
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