Olympus 550WP vs Sony A550

Let's look a bit more in depth at the Olympus 550WP and Sony A550, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by rivals Olympus and Sony. There is a considerable difference among the sensor resolutions of the 550WP (10MP) and A550 (14MP) and the 550WP (1/2.3") and A550 (APS-C) possess totally different sensor measurements.

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The 550WP was released 11 months earlier than the A550 which means that they are of a similar age. Both the cameras offer different body type with the Olympus 550WP being a Compact camera and the Sony A550 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving through a full comparison, below is a concise summation of how the 550WP matches up versus the A550 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus Stylus 550WP & Sony Alpha DSLR-A550. The complete galleries are available at Olympus 550WP Gallery & Sony A550 Gallery.

If you're going to travel with your camera regularly, you should think about its weight and dimensions. The Olympus 550WP provides outside dimensions of 94mm x 62mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 0.9") with a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs) while the Sony A550 has dimensions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") accompanied by a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs).

Look at the Olympus 550WP and Sony A550 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you use at that moment. Here is the front view measurement comparison of the 550WP vs the A550.

Looking at size and weight, the portability grade of the 550WP and A550 is 94 and 63 respectively.

Generally, it's hard to visualise the contrast in sensor dimensions just by looking through technical specs. The pic underneath should offer you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the 550WP and A550.

As you can tell, the two cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The 550WP due to its smaller sensor will make shooting shallower depth of field more challenging and the Sony A550 will result in extra detail as a result of its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop pictures far more aggressively. The more aged 550WP will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor technology.