Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL vs. Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

Side by side comparison and review of Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL and Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm. Compare design, sensors, zoom functions, batteries and other key specifications and features to simplify the choice of your perfect digital camera. Our goal is to make it easier for you to decide on the camera that will best meet your expectations by revealing the main differences between the products.

Camera Specifications Comparison

Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL vs. Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Product Type Digital camera - 1080p - SLR with Live View mode, movie recording Digital camera - 1080p - SLR with Live View mode, movie recording
Lens Included DA L 18-55mm AL lens AF-S VR DX 18-55mm lens
Height 9.65 cm 9.6 cm
Width 12.9 cm 12.4 cm
Depth 7 cm 7.45 cm
Weight 590 g 455 g
Body Material Stainless steel, fibre reinforced polycarbonate -
Enclosure Colour Black Black
Protection Dust-resistant -
Optical Zoom 3x 3x
SENSOR Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Sensor Resolution 16.3 Megapixel 14.2 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type CMOS CMOS
Total Pixels 16,500,000 pixels 14,800,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 16,300,000 pixels 14,200,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) APS-C (23.1 x 15.4 mm)
Sensor Dust Reduction Yes Yes
Sensor Features Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), Special Protect (SP) coating Air flow control system, Self Cleaning Sensor Unit
Image Stabiliser Optical (image sensor shift mechanism) Optical
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser Yes -
PROCESSOR Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Image Processor PRIME M EXPEED 2
LENS Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Type Zoom lens - 3x zoom - 18 - 55 mm - f/3.5-5.6 DA L AL Pentax KAF - zoom Zoom lens - 3x zoom - 18 - 55 mm - f/3.5-5.6 G Nikon AF-S DX VR
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 27 - 82.5mm 27 - 82.5mm
Focus Adjustment Automatic, manual Automatic, manual
Min Focus Distance 25 cm 28 cm
Max View Angle 76 degree(s) 76 degree(s)
Zoom Adjustment Manual Manual
Lens Construction 8 groups / 11 elements 8 groups / 11 elements
Filter Size 52 mm 52 mm
Lens Mounting Type Pentax KAF2 Nikon F
Features Aspherical lens Silent Wave Motor (SWM), aspherical lens, VR (Vibration Reduction)
FOCUSING Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Auto Focus TTL contrast and phase detection TTL contrast and phase detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 11 11
Auto Focus Features Focus Peaking function -
AE/AF Control Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF -
Face Detection Yes Face-priority AF function
VIEWFINDER Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Viewfinder Type Optical - fixed eye-level pentaprism Optical - eye-level penta-dach mirror
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage 100% 95%
Optical Viewfinder Magnification 0.92x 0.8x
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range -2.5 to +1.5 -1.7 to +0.5
Field of View Crop Factor - 1.5
Interchangeable Focusing Screens Yes -
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
ISO (Max) 51200 12800
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-51200, ISO auto (100-51200) ISO 6400, ISO auto, ISO 100-3200, ISO 12800
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Centre-weighted, spot, 3D colour matrix II
Exposure Metering Zones 77 420
Exposure Modes Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, ISO priority, shutter & aperture priority Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, i-TTL program flash
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 Landscape, portrait mode, close-up, night portrait, Children, sports mode
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 Neutral, Vivid, monochrome, landscape, portrait
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
Max Shutter Speed 1/6000 sec 1/4000 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 1/3 EV steps
Auto Exposure Bracketing 3 steps in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps -
X-sync Speed 1/180 sec 1/200sec
Exposure Range EV 0-22 (ISO 100) EV 0-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Type 3" LCD display 3" LCD display
Display Format 921,000 pixels 230,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Built-in Built-in
Display Features Display brightness control, display colour control Display brightness control
FLASH Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Camera Flash Pop-up flash Pop-up flash
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 12 12
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
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Digital Video Format H.264 MOV
Image Recording Format JPEG, DNG (RAW) + JPEG, DNG (RAW) JPEG, RAW + JPEG, NEF (RAW)
Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Microphone Operation Mode Mono Mono
Microphone Features Sensitivity control -
MEMORY Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
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
Memory Card 8 GB SDHC -
Image Storage RAW 4928 x 3264
JPEG 4928 x 3264
JPEG 4224 x 2816
JPEG 3456 x 2304
JPEG 2688 x 1792
4608 x 3072
3456 x 2304
2304 x 1536
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 - 24 fps
MOV - 1280 x 720 - 30 fps
MOV - 1280 x 720 - 25 fps
MOV - 1280 x 720 - 24 fps
MOV - 640 x 424 - 24 fps
BATTERY AND CHARGING Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Battery Type Pentax D-Li109 Lithium Ion Nikon EN-EL14 Lithium Ion
Details Pentax D-Li109 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included) Nikon EN-EL14 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 - 550 shots
CONNECTIONS Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Interface Composite video/audio, USB 2.0 Composite video/audio, HDMI, USB 2.0
Print Standard DPOF support, PRINT Image Matching Direct print, DPOF support, Exif Print support, PictBridge support
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe
Connector Type USB 2.0
Composite video/audio output
USB 2.0
HDMI output
Composite video/audio output
FEATURES Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Self-Timer Delay 2sec, 12sec 10 sec, 2sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 3 frames per second, 6 frames per second 3 frames per second
Additional Features RGB primary colour filter, depth-of-field preview button, histogram display, cropping an image, resizing an image, shadow point display, interval shooting mode, highlight point display, in-camera film editing, 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, Lens Distortion Correction, SR (Shake Reduction) Date/time stamp, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, AE lock, AF lock, in-camera red-eye removal, cropping an image, GPS ready, LCD live view mode, highlight point display, Active D-Lighting technology, face detection, built-in help guide, Scene Recognition System (SRS), in-camera RAW processing, text input to Exif header
OTHERS Pentax K-500 + DA L 18-55mm AL Nikon Coolpix D3100 + AF-S VR DX 18-55mm
Included Accessories Battery charger, dust cap, body cap, lens cap, carrying case, shoulder strap, USB cable, eyecup, shoe cap Eyepiece cover, battery charger, dust cap, body cap, lens cap, neck strap, carrying case, eyecup, shoe cap
Software Drivers & Utilities, SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.0 Nikon ViewNX 2, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature -10 °C 0 °C
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