Canon G5 X has a
20.0MP 1″ (13.2 x 8.8 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features DIGIC 6 processor. On the other hand, Pentax ist DL2 has a
6.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.7 mm ) sized CCD sensor .
Canon G5 X's sensor provides 14MP more than Pentax ist DL2's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Below you can see the G5 X and ist DL2 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Pentax ist DL2 has a 3.2x Larger sensor area than Canon G5 X. 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 G5 X and Pentax ist DL2 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that ist DL2 has a better overall score of 65, 3 points higher compared to G5 X's score of 62.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Canon G5 X |
62 |
21.4 bits |
12.3 Evs |
471 ISO |
Pentax ist DL2 |
65 |
22.9 bits |
11.1 Evs |
639 ISO |