Hands on: Pentax K-500 review

Pentax's most affordable DSLR

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Pentax K-500 review
The Pentax K-500 has a 16.2MP CMOS sensor - just like the K-30 and K-50

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As part of our image quality testing for the Pentax K-500, we've shot our resolution chart.

If you view our crops of the resolution chart's central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, for example, at ISO 100 the Pentax K-500 is capable of resolving up to around 24 (line widths per picture height x100) in its highest quality JPEG files.

For a full explanation of what our resolution charts mean, and how to read them, check out our full explanation of our camera testing resolution charts.

Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100:

JPEG

Pentax K-500 review Image quality and resolution

Full ISO 100 image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

Pentax K-500 review Image quality and resolution

ISO 100, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review Image quality and resolution

ISO 200, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review Image quality and resolution

ISO 400, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review Image quality and resolution

ISO 800, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review Image quality and resolution

ISO 1600, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review Image quality and resolution

ISO 3200, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review Image quality and resolution

ISO 6400, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review Image quality and resolution

ISO 12,800, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review Image quality and resolution

ISO 25,600, score: 20 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review Image quality and resolution

ISO 51,200, score: 12 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Raw

Pentax K-500 review resolution chart image

ISO 100, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review resolution chart image

ISO 200, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review resolution chart image

ISO 400, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review resolution chart image

ISO 800, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review resolution chart image

ISO 1600, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review resolution chart image

ISO 3200, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review resolution chart image

ISO 6400, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review resolution chart image

ISO 12,800, score: 18 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review resolution chart image

ISO 25,600, score: 18 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Pentax K-500 review resolution chart image

ISO 51,200, score: 12 (Click here to see full resolution image)

Ben Andrews

What is a hands on review?

Hands on reviews' are a journalist's first impressions of a piece of kit based on spending some time with it. It may be just a few moments, or a few hours. The important thing is we have been able to play with it ourselves and can give you some sense of what it's like to use, even if it's only an embryonic view. For more information, see TechRadar's Reviews Guarantee.