Pentax K-50 vs Pentax 645D

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Pentax K-50 and the Pentax 645D, 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.

Pentax K-50 was introduced in November 2013 and Pentax 645D was introduced in March 2010. 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 Pentax K-50 over Pentax 645D.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Pentax 645D over Pentax K-50.

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

Pentax K-50 and Pentax 645D have 3.0" Fixed screens with 921k dot resolution.

Viewfinder

Cameras have built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinders. Pentax K-50 has 100% coverage with 0.92x (0.61x 35mm equivalent) magnification and Pentax 645D has 98% coverage with 0.56x (0.71x 35mm equivalent) magnification.

Pentax K-50 features a 16.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.7 x 15.7 mm and a total area of 372.1 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,600. Pentax 645D features a 40 megapixel Medium format CCD sensor with dimensions of 44 x 33 mm and a total area of 1089 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 1,600 and expands to 100 - 1,600 in boosted mode.

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

Pentax K-50 is equipped with PRIME M processor and can take pictures up to 4928 x 3264 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4224 x 2816, 3456 x 2304, 2688 x 1792 with 3:2 aspect ratios. Pentax 645D is equipped with PRIME II processor and can take pictures up to 7264 x 5440 resolution.

Lens Mount

Pentax K-50 has Pentax K_AF2 lens mount and Pentax 645D has Pentax 645_AF2 lens mount. Due to APS-C sensor in Pentax K-50 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. Due to Medium format sensor in Pentax 645D its crop factor is equal to 0.79x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 0.79.

No Low-Pass Filter on Pentax 645D

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Pentax 645D. 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-50

Pentax K-50 has a built-in Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS). 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.

USB Inputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer.

Battery

Pentax K-50 comes with D-LI109 battery pack with battery life of 410 shots and Pentax 645D comes with D-LI90 battery pack with battery life of 800 shots.

External Storage Slots

Pentax K-50 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot. Pentax 645D has Dual SD/SDHC card slots.

Shutter

Shutter speed can go up to 1/6000 sec on Pentax K-50, and up to 1/4000 sec on Pentax 645D. Pentax K-50 can shoot continuously up to 6.0 fps. Pentax 645D can shoot continuously up to 1.1 fps.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Pentax 645D ranges from +2 to +21 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Pentax K-50 and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Pentax 645D.

Flash

Pentax K-50 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 12.00 m at ISO 100 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe or Wireless connection. Pentax 645D has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe (P-TTL or high speed sync available) or wireless with PENTAX dedicated flash or X-sync socket. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/180 sec on Pentax K-50 and 1/125 sec on Pentax 645D.

Pentax K-50 body has dimensions of 130 x 97 x 71 mm (5.12 x 3.82 x 2.8") and Pentax 645D body has dimensions of 156 x 117 x 119 mm (6.14 x 4.61 x 4.69"). Pentax K-50 weighs 650 g (1.43 lb / 22.93 oz) and Pentax 645D weighs 1480 g (3.26 lb / 52.21 oz).

Pentax K-50

Pentax 645D

130 mm

97 mm

156 mm

117 mm

97 mm

117 mm

71 mm

119 mm