Nikon Z30 vs Pentax K-3 Mark II

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon Z30 and the Pentax K-3 Mark II, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Nikon Z30 was introduced in June 2022 and Pentax K-3 Mark II was introduced in April 2015. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon Z30 over Pentax K-3 Mark II.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Pentax K-3 Mark II over Nikon Z30.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Nikon Z30 has a 3.0" Fully Articulated screen with 1,040k dot resolution and Pentax K-3 Mark II has a 3.2" Fixed screen with 1,037k dot resolution. Fully articulated screen makes Nikon Z30 selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Nikon Z30 also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Optical (pentaprism) Viewfinder on Pentax K-3 Mark II

Pentax K-3 Mark II has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. It has a 100% coverage and 0.95x (0.63x 35mm equivalent) magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Nikon Z30.

Nikon Z30 features a 20.9 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.7 mm and a total area of 369 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 100 - 204,800 in boosted mode. Pentax K-3 Mark II features a 24.35 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 243.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Nikon Z30 is equipped with EXPEED 6 processor and can take pictures up to 5568 x 3712 resolution. Pentax K-3 Mark II is equipped with PRIME III processor and can take pictures up to 6016 x 4000 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4608 x 3072, 3072 x 2048, 1920 x 1080 with 3:2 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Nikon Z30 has Nikon Z lens mount and Pentax K-3 Mark II has Pentax K_AF2 lens mount. Due to their APS-C sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1.5x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5.

No Low-Pass Filter

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on either of the cameras. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Pentax K-3 Mark II

Pentax K-3 Mark II has a built-in Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 4.5 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in GPS on Pentax K-3 Mark II

Pentax K-3 Mark II has a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) technology which allows you to automatically tag the location where you took your photos. You can later categorize, organize, and search for photos based on location. This is very useful for travel and outdoor photographers for documenting the locations where images were captured.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in GPS.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Nikon Z30

Nikon Z30 has a built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth on Nikon Z30

Nikon Z30 has a built-in Bluetooth (version 4.2) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5 GBit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Nikon Z30 has a Micro HDMI and Pentax K-3 Mark II has a Mini HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon Z30 comes with EN-EL25 battery pack with battery life of 330 shots and Pentax K-3 Mark II comes with D-LI90 battery pack with battery life of 720 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon Z30 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot. Pentax K-3 Mark II has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slots.

Shutter

Nikon Z30 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Nikon Z30, and up to 1/8000 sec on Pentax K-3 Mark II. Nikon Z30 can shoot continuously up to 11.0 fps. Pentax K-3 Mark II can shoot continuously up to 8.3 fps.

Focusing

Nikon Z30 has Hybrid phase-detection/contrast AF system with 209 focusing points and Pentax K-3 Mark II has 27 (25 cross-type) focusing points. Nikon Z30 has detection range from -4.5 to +19 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon Z30 and Pentax K-3 Mark II range from -4 to +17 EV and -3 to +20 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon Z30 and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Pentax K-3 Mark II.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe to Nikon Z30 and via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal to Pentax K-3 Mark II. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on Nikon Z30 and 1/180 sec on Pentax K-3 Mark II.

Nikon Z30 body has dimensions of 128 x 74 x 60 mm (5.04 x 2.91 x 2.36") and Pentax K-3 Mark II body has dimensions of 131 x 100 x 77 mm (5.16 x 3.94 x 3.03"). Nikon Z30 weighs 405 g (0.89 lb / 14.29 oz) and Pentax K-3 Mark II weighs 800 g (1.76 lb / 28.22 oz).

Nikon Z30

Pentax K-3 Mark II

128 mm

74 mm

131 mm

100 mm

74 mm

100 mm

60 mm

77 mm