Panasonic ZS8 vs Sony A6500

Lets look a little more closely at the Panasonic ZS8 and Sony A6500, one is a Small Sensor Superzoom and the other is a Advanced Mirrorless by competitors Panasonic and Sony. There is a big difference between the resolutions of the ZS8 (14MP) and A6500 (24MP) and the ZS8 (1/2.3") and A6500 (APS-C) provide different sensor dimensions.

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The ZS8 was manufactured 6 years before the A6500 which is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Panasonic ZS8 being a Compact camera and the Sony A6500 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going into a more detailed comparison, here is a brief summary of how the ZS8 matches up versus the A6500 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 and Sony Alpha a6500. The entire galleries are viewable at Panasonic ZS8 Gallery and Sony A6500 Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to carry around your camera often, you'll need to think about its weight and volume. The Panasonic ZS8 features exterior dimensions of 105mm x 58mm x 33mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.3") having a weight of 210 grams (0.46 lbs) while the Sony A6500 has sizing of 120mm x 67mm x 53mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 2.1") and a weight of 453 grams (1.00 lbs).

Check out the Panasonic ZS8 and Sony A6500 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you are using during that time. Following is a front view measurements comparison of the ZS8 against the A6500.

Looking at size and weight, the portability score of the ZS8 and A6500 is 92 and 81 respectively.

Generally, its tough to picture the difference between sensor sizes just by reading through specifications. The pic below might provide you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the ZS8 and A6500.

To sum up, both the cameras feature different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The ZS8 because of its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF tougher and the Sony A6500 will give you extra detail due to its extra 10MP. Greater resolution can also allow you to crop images way more aggressively. The more aged ZS8 is going to be behind with regard to sensor technology.