Pados was born in Budapest, Hungary. In 1990, he attended the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest as a cinematographer. He worked as a camera assistant to Academy Award-winner Vilmos Zsigmond. As a university student, he and his friends founded a company, which is still the third largest Hungarian commercial film studio. His diploma work was cinematographing and directing Hajnal, for which he was awarded several prizes. Then he cinematographed The dance. Later, he made Angyal utca with a completely Hungarian team. In England, he shot the short movie Meter Running, written by Charles Martin and directed by David Moore. After getting his degree in 1996, he returned to England and shot The Star and The Sin Eater.

In 2000, he was the cinematographer of Hotel Splendide, which was also awarded. His last movie in England was The Heart of Me. He came back to Hungary in 2003, filming Kontroll, which made him famous also in Hungary. After this movie, he was the cinematographer of the movie Fateless in 2005.

His first major Hollywood film was Predators (2010), and he has also shot the blockbuster films Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and its 2019 sequel, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023).