Panasonic S1R vs Sony A390

Its time to look more in depth at the Panasonic S1R and Sony A390, former is a Pro Mirrorless while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by rivals Panasonic and Sony. There exists a considerable gap among the resolutions of the S1R (47MP) and A390 (14MP) and the S1R (Full frame) and A390 (APS-C) provide different sensor size.

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The S1R was brought out 8 years after the A390 which is a fairly large difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Panasonic S1R being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony A390 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting right into a thorough comparison, here is a brief summary of how the S1R matches up against the A390 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R & Sony Alpha DSLR-A390. The entire galleries are viewable at Panasonic S1R Gallery & Sony A390 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to travel with your camera frequently, you're going to have to factor in its weight and measurements. The Panasonic S1R features external dimensions of 149mm x 110mm x 97mm (5.9" x 4.3" x 3.8") with a weight of 1020 grams (2.25 lbs) whilst the Sony A390 has proportions of 128mm x 97mm x 86mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 3.4") having a weight of 549 grams (1.21 lbs).

Check out the Panasonic S1R and Sony A390 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you use during that time. Below is a front view dimensions comparison of the S1R against the A390.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability score of the S1R and A390 is 54 and 66 respectively.

Quite often, it can be hard to imagine the contrast in sensor dimensions purely by seeing specs. The picture below may offer you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the S1R and A390.

As you can plainly see, both cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The S1R due to its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallow depth of field less difficult and the Panasonic S1R will show extra detail having its extra 33MP. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop images more aggressively. The more recent S1R provides a benefit when it comes to sensor innovation.