Panasonic FH10 vs Sony A850

Following is a extended review of the Panasonic FH10 and Sony A850, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Advanced DSLR by companies Panasonic and Sony. There exists a noticeable gap between the image resolutions of the FH10 (16MP) and A850 (25MP) and the FH10 (1/2.3") and A850 (Full frame) come with totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The FH10 was unveiled 2 years after the A850 which is quite a sizable difference as far as technology is concerned. Both cameras offer different body type with the Panasonic FH10 being a Compact camera and the Sony A850 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before getting straight into a detailed comparison, below is a brief summation of how the FH10 grades vs the A850 for portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH10 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A850. The full galleries are viewable at Panasonic FH10 Gallery & Sony A850 Gallery.

For anybody who is going to carry around your camera often, you are going to need to factor in its weight and volume. The Panasonic FH10 has got exterior measurements of 94mm x 54mm x 18mm (3.7" x 2.1" x 0.7") accompanied by a weight of 103 grams (0.23 lbs) and the Sony A850 has sizing of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") with a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs).

Check out the Panasonic FH10 and Sony A850 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you use at the time. Here is the front view size comparison of the FH10 compared to the A850.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the FH10 and A850 is 97 and 54 respectively.

Normally, its difficult to visualise the contrast between sensor sizes just by reading specifications. The picture below will help offer you a clearer sense of the sensor sizing in the FH10 and A850.

Plainly, each of these cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The FH10 with its tinier sensor will make getting shallow DOF trickier and the Sony A850 will deliver greater detail having an extra 9 Megapixels. Greater resolution will let you crop photos a little more aggressively. The younger FH10 will have an advantage with regard to sensor technology.