Canon 7D has a
18.0MP APS-C (22.3 x 14.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Dual Digic 4 processor. On the other hand, Pentax K-5 IIs has a
16.0MP APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Prime II processor.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Pentax K-5 IIs's sensor doesn't have an anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moiré occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the 7D and K-5 IIs sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Canon 7D and Pentax K-5 IIs Cameras
As seen above, Pentax K-5 IIs has a 1.1x Larger sensor area than Canon 7D. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Canon 7D and Pentax K-5 IIs sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that K-5 IIs has a better overall score of 82, 16 points higher compared to 7D's score of 66.
Model
Overall
Color Depth
Dynamic Range
Low-light ISO
Canon 7D
66
22.0 bits
11.7 Evs
854 ISO
Pentax K-5 IIs
82
23.9 bits
14.1 Evs
1208 ISO
Sensor size sets the circle of confusion, so it drives how much depth of field each
of these bodies gives you at a given aperture. You can calculate it exactly for the
Canon 7D
or the
Pentax K-5 IIs ,
including hyperfocal distance.
