Panasonic FP3 vs Sony A850

Let's examine more in depth at the Panasonic FP3 and Sony A850, one is a Ultracompact and the other is a Advanced DSLR by companies Panasonic and Sony. There exists a significant gap among the resolutions of the FP3 (14MP) and A850 (25MP) and the FP3 (1/2.3") and A850 (Full frame) feature different sensor dimensions.

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The FP3 was released 3 months before the A850 and they are of a similar generation. Both the cameras come with different body type with the Panasonic FP3 being a Ultracompact camera and the Sony A850 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before delving through a comprehensive comparison, below is a simple summary of how the FP3 scores versus the A850 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP3 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A850. The complete galleries are viewable at Panasonic FP3 Gallery and Sony A850 Gallery.

In case you're intending to carry around your camera, you are going to need to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Panasonic FP3 provides outside dimensions of 99mm x 59mm x 19mm (3.9" x 2.3" x 0.7") along with a weight of 155 grams (0.34 lbs) while the Sony A850 has dimensions of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") and a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs).

Compare the Panasonic FP3 and Sony A850 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you are employing during that time. Here is the front view scale comparison of the FP3 against the A850.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the FP3 and A850 is 95 and 54 respectively.

Quite often, it's difficult to picture the gap in sensor sizes only by viewing specs. The image below may give you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the FP3 and A850.

As you can plainly see, both of these cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The FP3 due to its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field more challenging and the Sony A850 will result in extra detail as a result of its extra 11MP. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop photos somewhat more aggressively.