Panasonic FP5 vs Sony A6500

Here is a in depth review of the Panasonic FP5 vs Sony A6500, one being a Ultracompact and the other is a Advanced Mirrorless by rivals Panasonic and Sony. There is a crucial difference between the image resolutions of the FP5 (14MP) and A6500 (24MP) and the FP5 (1/2.3") and A6500 (APS-C) have totally different sensor size.

Japan-exclusive Leica Leitz Phone 3 features big sensor and new modes

The FP5 was brought out 6 years before the A6500 and that is quite a serious gap as far as tech is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Panasonic FP5 being a Ultracompact camera and the Sony A6500 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before we go right into a complete comparison, here is a simple overview of how the FP5 grades against the A6500 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

The following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP5 and Sony Alpha a6500. The entire galleries are provided at Panasonic FP5 Gallery and Sony A6500 Gallery.

If you are aiming to carry your camera regularly, you will want to think about its weight and size. The Panasonic FP5 provides outside measurements of 101mm x 59mm x 18mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 0.7") having a weight of 141 grams (0.31 lbs) while the Sony A6500 has specifications of 120mm x 67mm x 53mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 2.1") along with a weight of 453 grams (1.00 lbs).

Take a look at the Panasonic FP5 vs Sony A6500 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you use at the time. Following is a front view proportions comparison of the FP5 vs the A6500.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the FP5 and A6500 is 95 and 81 respectively.

Often, its difficult to envision the gap between sensor sizing merely by reading a spec sheet. The graphic below will help give you a stronger sense of the sensor sizing in the FP5 and A6500.

As you can see, each of these cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The FP5 featuring a tinier sensor will make getting shallow DOF trickier and the Sony A6500 will deliver more detail having its extra 10 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop images more aggressively. The older FP5 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor tech.