Sony Alpha 6600 vs Pentax K-3 Mark II

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony Alpha 6600 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.

Sony Alpha 6600 was introduced in August 2019 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 Sony Alpha 6600 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 Sony Alpha 6600.

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

Sony Alpha 6600 has a 3.0" Tilting screen with 922k dot resolution and Pentax K-3 Mark II has a 3.2" Fixed screen with 1,037k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes Sony Alpha 6600 very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Sony Alpha 6600 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

Sony Alpha 6600 has a built-in 0.39" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 2,359k dot resolution and Pentax K-3 Mark II has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. They both have 100% coverage.

Sony Alpha 6600 features a 24.2 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 366.6 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 32,000 and expands to 100 - 102,400 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

Sony Alpha 6600 is equipped with BIONZ X processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 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

Sony Alpha 6600 has Sony E 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 on Pentax K-3 Mark II

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Pentax K-3 Mark II. 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) (4.5 stops of compensation in Pentax K-3 Mark II). 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 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 Sony Alpha 6600

Sony Alpha 6600 has a built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n, 2.4 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 Sony Alpha 6600

Sony Alpha 6600 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.

NFC on Sony Alpha 6600

Sony Alpha 6600 has Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer. Sony Alpha 6600 has a Micro HDMI and Pentax K-3 Mark II has a Mini HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 6600 comes with NP-FZ1000 battery pack with battery life of 810 shots and Pentax K-3 Mark II comes with D-LI90 battery pack with battery life of 720 shots.

External Storage Slots

Sony Alpha 6600 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo Hybrid (UHS-I) card slot. Pentax K-3 Mark II has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slots.

Shutter

Sony Alpha 6600 has Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Sony Alpha 6600, and up to 1/8000 sec on Pentax K-3 Mark II. Sony Alpha 6600 can shoot continuously up to 11.0 fps. Pentax K-3 Mark II can shoot continuously up to 8.3 fps.

Focusing

Sony Alpha 6600 has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 425 focusing points and Pentax K-3 Mark II has 27 (25 cross-type) focusing points. Sony Alpha 6600 has detection range from -2 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sony Alpha 6600 and Pentax K-3 Mark II range from -2 to +20 EV and -3 to +20 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 6600 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 Intelligent Hot Shoe or Wireless connection to Sony Alpha 6600 and via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal to Pentax K-3 Mark II. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/160 sec on Sony Alpha 6600 and 1/180 sec on Pentax K-3 Mark II.

Sony Alpha 6600 body has dimensions of 120 x 67 x 69 mm (4.72 x 2.64 x 2.72") and Pentax K-3 Mark II body has dimensions of 131 x 100 x 77 mm (5.16 x 3.94 x 3.03"). Sony Alpha 6600 weighs 503 g (1.11 lb / 17.74 oz) and Pentax K-3 Mark II weighs 800 g (1.76 lb / 28.22 oz).

Sony Alpha 6600

Pentax K-3 Mark II

120 mm

67 mm

131 mm

100 mm

67 mm

100 mm

69 mm

77 mm