Samsung NX20 has a
20.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.7 mm ) sized CMOS sensor . On the other hand, Pentax K-3 has a
24.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Prime III processor.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Pentax K-3'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 NX20 and K-3 sensor size comparison.
Samsung NX20 and Pentax K-3 have almost the same sensor size, so neither of them has any significant advantage over the other in terms of providing control over depth of field when used with the 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. Samsung NX20 and Pentax K-3 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that K-3 has a better overall score of 80, 5 points higher compared to NX20's score of 75.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Samsung NX20 |
75 |
23.4 bits |
12.9 Evs |
785 ISO |
Pentax K-3 |
80 |
23.7 bits |
13.4 Evs |
1216 ISO |