Olympus 550WP vs Sony A55

On this page, we are contrasting the Olympus 550WP versus Sony A55, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Olympus and Sony. There exists a large gap among the resolutions of the 550WP (10MP) and A55 (16MP) and the 550WP (1/2.3") and A55 (APS-C) have totally different sensor size.

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The 550WP was announced 19 months before the A55 making them a generation apart from one another. Both the cameras have different body design with the Olympus 550WP being a Compact camera and the Sony A55 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before delving straight to a thorough comparison, here is a simple overview of how the 550WP grades versus the A55 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus Stylus 550WP & Sony SLT-A55. The whole galleries are available at Olympus 550WP Gallery & Sony A55 Gallery.

In case you're looking to lug around your camera often, you need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Olympus 550WP enjoys external measurements of 94mm x 62mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs) and the Sony A55 has measurements of 124mm x 92mm x 85mm (4.9" x 3.6" x 3.3") having a weight of 500 grams (1.10 lbs).

Take a look at the Olympus 550WP versus Sony A55 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you choose during that time. The following is a front view scale comparison of the 550WP against the A55.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the 550WP and A55 is 94 and 67 respectively.

More often than not, it can be difficult to visualise the contrast in sensor measurements only by going through specifications. The photograph here may provide you a greater sense of the sensor sizing in the 550WP and A55.

Plainly, the two cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The 550WP having a smaller sensor will make shooting shallower DOF more difficult and the Sony A55 will provide greater detail with its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution will enable you to crop images a bit more aggressively. The older 550WP will be disadvantaged in sensor tech.