Pentax K-5 IIs vs Pentax K5 — Which Is Better?

The Pentax K-5 IIs and the Pentax K5 are APS-C DSLRs built to the same body design, with dimensions of 131 x 97 x 73 mm each, so either fits the same bag and housing setup. The K5 arrived in 2010, and the K-5 IIs followed in 2012 as the later release. This is a comparison between two closely matched bodies rather than two different classes of camera.

The one measurable general difference is weight: the K5 is 20 g lighter at 740 g, against 760 g for the K-5 IIs, a 2.6 percent saving. Both bodies share the DSLR form and the same physical footprint, so the weight gap is the only carrying difference between them.

Cropping room and burst speed are identical here, so neither camera earns an advantage for distant wildlife or fast action. Both pair a 16.3 MP APS-C CMOS sensor with the Prime II processor, and both shoot at 7 fps, enough for typical bursts of children, pets or sport.

Both cameras offer in-body stabilisation, which steadies handheld shots with any mounted lens, plus an optical pentaprism viewfinder, 11 autofocus points and a 1/8000 second top shutter speed. Standard sensitivity runs from 100 to 12800 ISO on each, expanding to 51200 ISO. The mount entries differ, Pentax KAF for the K-5 IIs and Pentax KAF2 for the K5.

Both cameras handle occasional Full HD clips rather than serious motion work. Each records Motion JPEG video with Full HD as its resolution ceiling, and the 25 fps maximum frame rate rules out slow-motion capture.

Built-in timelapse on both cameras condenses a sunset or building project into a short sequence without an external intervalometer. Because the file format, resolution limit and frame-rate limit match, the video specifications give no reason to prefer one body over the other.

Weather sealing is a shared strength, letting either camera keep shooting in rain or dusty trails where an unsealed body would need protection. Both also carry a built-in flash and support external flash units, giving fill light for portraits or indoor work without extra accessories.

Both cameras use a 3-inch screen with 921000 dots and live view, while the screen type entries read LCD for the K-5 IIs and TFT LCD for the K5. Neither offers a touchscreen, a tilting screen, WiFi, Bluetooth or GPS, so image transfer and location tagging need external solutions on both.

Storage is a shared single-slot design: both cameras write to one SD, SDHC or SDXC card, so there is no in-camera backup or overflow arrangement on either. Photographers who shoot paid events should plan card capacity and offloading the same way for both bodies.

The battery ratings match at 980 shots, and neither camera supports USB charging. The batteries differ in model, D-LI90P for the K-5 IIs and D-LI90 for the K5, so spare batteries and chargers should be chosen to match the specific body.