Nikon D500 has a 21.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.7 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 5 processor. On the other hand, Pentax K-1 has a 36.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm ) sized CMOS sensor .
Pentax K-1's sensor provides 15MP more than Nikon D500'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.
Another similarity between these two cameras is that both Pentax K-1 and Nikon D500 sensors lack anti-alias (Low-Pass) filters. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moire occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the D500 and K-1 sensor size comparison.
![Nikon D500 vs Pentax K-1 Sensor Size Comparison]()
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon D500 and Pentax K-1 Cameras
As seen above, Pentax K-1 has a 2.3x Larger sensor area than Nikon D500. 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. Nikon D500 and Pentax K-1 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that K-1 has a better overall score of 96, 12 points higher compared to D500's score of 84.
| Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
|
Nikon D500 |
84 |
24.1 bits |
14.0 Evs |
1324 ISO |
|
Pentax K-1 |
96 |
25.4 bits |
14.6 Evs |
3280 ISO |