Nikon D5200 has a
24.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 3 processor. On the other hand, Pentax K-S1 has a
20.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Prime MII processor.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Pentax K-S1'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 D5200 and K-S1 sensor size comparison.
Nikon D5200 and Pentax K-S1 have the same sensor sizes so they will provide same level of control over the depth of field when used with same focal length and aperture. On the other hand, since Pentax K-S1 has 20% larger pixel area (18.37µm2 vs 15.28µm2) compared to Nikon D5200, it has larger pixel area to collect light hence potential to have less noise in low light / High ISO images.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
Both Nikon D5200 and Pentax K-S1 sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark 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. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, D5200 has scored 84, 6 points higher than K-S1.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D5200 |
84 |
24.2 bits |
13.9 Evs |
1284 ISO |
Pentax K-S1 |
78 |
23.5 bits |
13.0 Evs |
1061 ISO |