Sony A3000 has a
20.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features BIONZ processor. 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 A3000 and K-3 sensor size comparison.
Sony A3000 and Pentax K-3 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 Sony A3000 has 21% larger pixel area compared to Pentax K-3, it has potential to collect more light on pixel level hence have less noise in low light / High ISO images.
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. Sony A3000 and Pentax K-3 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that K-3 has a better overall score of 80, 2 points higher compared to A3000's score of 78.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Sony A3000 |
78 |
23.7 bits |
12.8 Evs |
1068 ISO |
Pentax K-3 |
80 |
23.7 bits |
13.4 Evs |
1216 ISO |