Pentax K 70 vs Nikon D5600

 

Introduction

The Pentax K-70 and Nikon D5600 are widely known entry-level cameras which can be set among the group of the best cameras in this range, due to the fact that they do combine a solid construction with strong performance for a fairly affordable price, something that does not really happen too often on the market.

Firstly introduced in 2016, they’ve gained a huge popularity and became widely purchased by the novices, hobbyists and even semi-professionals who would like to invest a decent amount of money for purchasing strong and versatile cameras that allow the photographers to have a huge freedom in shooting.

They share multiple things in common, such as the fact that both of them are entry-level cameras, they are DSLR as well, employ an APS-C sensor and these are only a few mentioned similarities. Hence, let’s dive into action and find out how can they boost your shooting experience and which camera can be declared as a winner here!

Head To Head Comparison

Pentax K-70

The Pentax K-70 sports a sleek, well-made, compact body that is available in two color editions, such as the all-black or all-silver, but regardless of your choice, both editions look excellent and you simply can’t go wrong!

Pentax has implemented a polycarbonate material that stretches through the entire top plate, whereas, its frame is sturdy and it is made of metal. To be honest, this camera doesn’t look nor feel cheap, but exactly the opposite. The manufacturer has managed to craft a camera that feels premium, and you will have an opportunity to feel this in the case of an eventual purchase.

As a matter of fact, the K-70 also employs a weather-sealing which rarely happens with cameras in this price range, hence, you will never feel restricted in terms of shooting due to the fact that regardless of the environment in which you’re shooting or the weather conditions, the moisture and dust will never cause you issues!

Also, shooting with K-70 is very convenient thanks to its deep, textured grip that lets you place your hand naturally, and since you’ll be able to do that, you will not feel strained even if you’ve been shooting for a quite long period of time.

Moreover, on the top, you can find a Standard mode dial that is followed by three dedicated Wi-Fi, Fn2, EV that sit to the right of the hot shoe and the pop-up flash, along with a Green button, three-stage power switch and a Control dial that sits ahead of the shutter located on the grip.

On the rear, all of the controls are spread on the right side, starting from the top and all the way to the bottom, leaving a decent amount of space for the viewfinder and the LCD screen.

In addition, the viewfinder is excellent, it is of a pentaprism type, has a coverage of up to 100%, with a magnification ratio of 0.95x, and trust me, you will love shooting through it because it is bright and since it covers such a vast area, without a doubt I can say that the chances that you’ll ever miss a target is set to 0!

Below the viewfinder, there’s a fully-articulated 3″, 921k-dot L CD display that is capable enough to produce crystal visuals, so that you’d be able to have an excellent view in both cases, whether you shoot or preview your images. Unfortunately, it lacks touch-sensitivity, and clearly, Pentax could have done a better job here!

When it comes to the connection ports, the K-70 includes a micro-USB port, micro-HDMI port, 3.5mm microphone jack, single memory card slot that has a support for UHS-I speed and SD/SDHC/SDXC cards. Aside from this, this unit is also Wi-fi enabled so you will never have any issues during the transfer of your captured content.

Speaking of the performance, the K-70 combines a 24MP image sensor, 11-point AF with 9 cross-sensors, continuous shooting rate of 6 fps, ISO range of 100-102,400 and a PRIME MII image processor that boosts the camera’s performance and ensures that the levels of noise are going to be controlled properly, so that the quality of the images and videos would be as good as possible!

Namely, JPGs shot through ISO 800 look overwhelming, you can instantly feel the vibrancy that they have because colors and details are indeed strong, and the same can be said even at ISO 6400. Noise starts to affect the image quality at ISO 12,800, but surprisingly, it isn’t heavily pronounced, because details are really well preserved, and therefore, images are still usable.

However, I wouldn’t recommend you rely on the higher, upper part of the ISO sensitivity levels, between ISO 51,200 – 102,400 because blur is heavily pronounced and it affects the image quality negatively, so, try to avoid it whenever you can.

RAW images handle incredibly well up to ISO 12,800 as well, but at ISO 25,600 even though there is a great amount of noise, images may be still usable, however, between ISO 51,200 – 102,400 they aren’t, and I wouldn’t go that far.

In the end, I’d also like to mention that you will have a chance to record 1080p videos at 24/25/30 fps, 720p videos at 50/60fps, and although this camera is incapable of offering you the pleasure of recording 1080p videos at 60 fps, still, the footage is strong and for casual videography, I don’t think that you would be disappointed.

Pentax K 70 Sample Footage:

Similar Comparison: Pentax K1 vs Nikon D810

Nikon D5600

The Nikon D5600 boasts a slim and compact, matte-black colored body that is accompanied by by red accents that stretch below the grip, which contribute a lot to the classy look of this camera, while on the other side, this unit does also employ a polycarbonate construction that is designed to make this camera strong enough to withstand daily use and feel solid once you have it in your hands.

In comparison to the K-70, this unit is not protected by weather-sealing which may be a bit problematic if you find yourself shooting under rainy or in dusty environments, therefore, the K-70 receives more credits in this point.

Moreover, the control layout is very simple, there aren’t numerous controls, but the ones that are present are exceptionally easy to use and are organized strategically, with the intention to offer the photographer an easy access in order to adjust the camera’s settings according to his/her preferences!

On the top plate, the left side is completely clean, there’s a hot hoe sitting on the top-center, and on the right, there are multiple controls, including a single Mode dial, the lone control dial, as well as movie Record and EV compensation buttons which are located above the shutter release button that has an On/Off switch.

If you take a look from the rear, you can notice that a Menu button sits to the left of the viewfinder, while on the right, there are two dedicated Info and an AE-L/AF-L labeled buttons. On the right-handed side, there are multiple controls that are spread above and below the four-way joypad with a squrezed OK button in the center.

Furthermore, the viewfinder is a bit smaller and dimmer due to its pentamirror type, has a 95% of coverage, magnification ratio of 0.55x, and in comparison to the one of the Pentax K-70, I think that the D5600 may not offer you the convenience of the K-70 who has a better coverage, magnification ratio as well as the clarity of the pentamirrors when shooting.

Either way, the D5600 is more affordable, and considering its price tag, this is nothing to be surprised of because still, you will have a nice view of everything you intend to shoot.

Moving on, this unit employs a fairly big, 3.2″, 1037k-dot vari-angle touchscreen, and on the contrary to K-70, The D5600 has a better resolution, bigger size and touch support, and clearly, at this area, the D5600 is better.

Speaking of the connection ports, the D5600 includes a mini-HDMI port, micro-USB port, wired remote port, 3.5mm microphone input, single memory card slot that supports SD/SDHC/SDXC media and once again, the D5600 proves itself as better because it has a built-in support for Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/NFC which means that you will have way more options to transfer your captured photos and videos.

Performance-wise, the D5600 utilizes a 24.2MP DX-Format CMOS sensor, an EXPEED 4 image processor, ISO range that stretches from 100-25,600, burst shooting speed of 5 fps and a 39-point AF system with 9 cross-type sensors that will guarantee you a nearly flawless performance!

As was the case with its opponent – the K70, this camera can also record JPG and RAW format images and honestly, it does a really good job in handling the noise throughout the ISO range.

For example, JPGs shot through the default settings look incredibly good, noise is virtually non-existent, the color accuracy is really strong, and details are well-defined! At ISO 1600, the same can be said, but the difference is indeed slight, because the noise can be seen a bit more but it does not really affect the image quality negatively. Between ISO 3200-6400 noise starts to appear more which is normal, but still, blur is well-controlled and up to this point images look great! Starting from ISO 12,800 – 25,600, noise is getting more prominent and since you don’t want to deal with noise, all you can do would be to simply avoid them.

RAW images employ strong details even at ISO 12,800, hence, images are usable, but at ISO 25,600, since noise is heavily pronounced, once again, you should avoid this level.

Finally, the D5600 offers the photographer a bigger advantage in terms of videos, due to the fact that it records 1080p videos at 60 fps, whereas, the K70 tops out at 30fps. That’s why, if you prefer recording videos for semi-professional/casual purposes, the D5600 would be a better choice for you, because the footage quality is superb!

Nikon D5600 Sample Images:

 

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Pentax K-70 vs Nikon D5600 Feature Comparison

	Pentax K-70	Nikon D5600
Camera Type	DSLR	DSLR
Megapixels	24.0	24.2
ISO Range	100-102,400	100-25,600
Flip-Out Screen	Yes	Yes
AF Points	11 AF Points	39 AF Points
Viewfinder	Yes	Yes
Touchscreen	No	Yes
Video Recording	Yes	Yes
Sensor Size	APS-C	APS-C

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Conclusion

Let’s make one quick overview of the key aspects of both cameras, and after that, even though I will be the one that will announce the winner, everything will be up to you regarding which camera deserves more to become a part of your shooting gear.

For Portrait and Sports photography, the winner is the K-70 although for sports, there isn’t a huge difference between both cameras.

For Street photography, the K-70 proves itself as a better performer and the same also happens for Daily photography. The result of the landscape photography, results are very similar, however, the K-70 because of its environmental sealing may offer you a better convenience.

The areas where the D5600 outperforms the K-70 is with its touchscreen, because it has 28 more focus points (39 vs 11), the larger display (3.2 vs 3″) with a better resolution (1,037k vs 921k-dots), due to its stronger battery life (~820 vs ~410),and because it is both, NFC and Bluetooth enabled, and also due to its better video performance.

On the other hand, the K-70 includes a built-in image stabilization which may be decisive for numerous situations, has a 300% higher max ISO (102,400 vs 25,600), a way better viewfinder, faster mechanical shutter ( 1/6000s vs 1/4000s), because of its environmental sealing, and due to its faster continuous shooting speed ( 6 vs 5fps).

Overall, the Pentax K-70 is a better, all-round camera that would be an excellent choice for you, if you seek an environmental protection, and a bit better performance, whereas, if you prefer recording videos and taste the benefits of sharing your content through Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/NFC without spending much money, then the D5600 would be for you.

Either way, I declare the K-70 as a winner.

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