Panasonic ZS3 vs Sony A550

Its time to take a closer look at the Panasonic ZS3 and Sony A550, former is a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Panasonic and Sony. There exists a substantial gap between the sensor resolutions of the ZS3 (10MP) and A550 (14MP) and the ZS3 (1/2.3") and A550 (APS-C) provide totally different sensor dimensions.

Sora from OpenAI releases its first ever music video

The ZS3 was brought out 6 months before the A550 so they are of a similar age. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Panasonic ZS3 being a Compact camera and the Sony A550 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting straight to a full comparison, here is a brief summary of how the ZS3 grades against the A550 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A550. The entire galleries are available at Panasonic ZS3 Gallery & Sony A550 Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to travel with your camera often, you're going to have to take into account its weight and size. The Panasonic ZS3 comes with outer measurements of 103mm x 60mm x 33mm (4.1" x 2.4" x 1.3") along with a weight of 229 grams (0.50 lbs) whilst the Sony A550 has specifications of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") with a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs).

Contrast the Panasonic ZS3 and Sony A550 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you are working with at the time. Underneath is a front view proportions comparison of the ZS3 compared to the A550.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability score of the ZS3 and A550 is 91 and 63 respectively.

Normally, it can be difficult to envision the gap between sensor dimensions only by looking at technical specs. The image below will help give you a clearer sense of the sensor measurements in the ZS3 and A550.

As you can tell, both of the cameras come with different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The ZS3 due to its tinier sensor will make getting shallower depth of field trickier and the Sony A550 will give you more detail having its extra 4MP. Higher resolution will allow you to crop shots a good deal more aggressively.