Nikon Z7 vs Pentax K-5 II

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon Z7 and the Pentax K-5 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 Z7 was introduced in August 2018 and Pentax K-5 II was introduced in June 2013. 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 Z7 over Pentax K-5 II.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Pentax K-5 II over Nikon Z7.

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 Z7 has a 3.2" Tilting screen with 2,100k dot resolution and Pentax K-5 II has a 3.0" Fixed screen with 921k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes Nikon Z7 very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Nikon Z7 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.

Viewfinder

Nikon Z7 has a built-in 0.5" Electronic viewfinder with 3,690k dot resolution and Pentax K-5 II has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. They both have 100% coverage.

Nikon Z7 features a 45.7 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 858 mm². Its native ISO range is 64 - 25,600 and expands to 32 - 102,400 in boosted mode. Pentax K-5 II features a 16.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.7 x 15.7 mm and a total area of 246.5 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 12,800 and expands to 80 - 51,200 in boosted mode.

Nikon Z7 has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

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 Z7 is equipped with EXPEED 6 processor and can take pictures up to 8256 x 5504 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 5408 x 3600 (DX crop), 6880 x 5504 (5:4), 5504 x 5504 (1:1), 8256 x 4640 (16:9) with 1:1, 5:4, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios. Pentax K-5 II is equipped with PRIME II processor and can take pictures up to 4928 x 3264 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3936 x 2624, 3072 x 2048, 1728 x 1152 with 3:2 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Nikon Z7 has Nikon Z lens mount and Pentax K-5 II has Pentax K_AF2 lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor in Nikon Z7 its crop factor is equal to 1x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length. Due to APS-C sensor in Pentax K-5 II its crop factor 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 on Nikon Z7

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Nikon Z7. 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

The cameras have a built-in in-body image stabilization (IBIS) (5 stops of compensation in Nikon Z7). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when cameras are 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 Wi-Fi on Nikon Z7

Nikon Z7 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 Z7

Nikon Z7 has a built-in Bluetooth 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 inputs for data transfer. Nikon Z7 has a Mini HDMI and Pentax K-5 II has a Mini HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon Z7 comes with EN-EL15b battery pack with battery life of 330 shots and Pentax K-5 II comes with D-LI90 battery pack with battery life of 980 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon Z7 has a single CFexpress Type B / XQD card slot. Pentax K-5 II has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot.

Shutter

Nikon Z7 has Mechanical Focal Plane shutter and Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Nikon Z7, and up to 1/8000 sec on Pentax K-5 II. Nikon Z7 can shoot continuously up to 9.0 fps. Pentax K-5 II can shoot continuously up to 7.0 fps.

Focusing

Nikon Z7 has Hybrid phase-detection/contrast AF system with 493 focusing points and Pentax K-5 II has 11 (9 cross-type) focusing points. Nikon Z7 has detection range from -4 to +19 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon Z7 ranges from -3 to +17 EV 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 Z7 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Pentax K-5 II.

Flash

Pentax K-5 II has a built-in flash with maximum range of 13.00 m at ISO 100 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe or Wireless connection. Nikon Z7 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on Nikon Z7.

Nikon Z7 body has dimensions of 134 x 101 x 68 mm (5.28 x 3.98 x 2.68") and Pentax K-5 II body has dimensions of 131 x 97 x 73 mm (5.16 x 3.82 x 2.87"). Nikon Z7 weighs 675 g (1.49 lb / 23.81 oz) and Pentax K-5 II weighs 760 g (1.68 lb / 26.81 oz).

Nikon Z7

Pentax K-5 II

134 mm

101 mm

131 mm

97 mm

101 mm

97 mm

68 mm

73 mm