Pentax P70 vs Sony A900

Its time to look more closely at the Pentax P70 versus Sony A900, former being a Ultracompact while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by brands Pentax and Sony. There is a substantial difference between the image resolutions of the P70 (12MP) and A900 (25MP) and the P70 (1/2.3") and A900 (Full frame) posses totally different sensor sizes.

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The P70 was introduced 5 months later than the A900 which means that they are both of a similar age. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Pentax P70 being a Ultracompact camera and the Sony A900 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before diving straight to a more detailed comparison, here is a brief summary of how the P70 scores vs the A900 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a preview of the gallery photos for Pentax Optio P70 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A900. The whole galleries are viewable at Pentax P70 Gallery & Sony A900 Gallery.

If you're aiming to lug around your camera, you will have to think about its weight and dimensions. The Pentax P70 has outside dimensions of 97mm x 54mm x 22mm (3.8" x 2.1" x 0.9") having a weight of 155 grams (0.34 lbs) whilst the Sony A900 has dimensions of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") along with a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs).

Examine the Pentax P70 versus Sony A900 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you have chosen at that moment. Following is a front view scale comparison of the P70 against the A900.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability grade of the P70 and A900 is 95 and 54 respectively.

Usually, its hard to see the difference between sensor measurements purely by going over a spec sheet. The visual below might give you a greater sense of the sensor dimensions in the P70 and A900.

Clearly, both the cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The P70 using its tinier sensor will make getting shallow DOF more difficult and the Sony A900 will offer you more detail using its extra 13MP. Higher resolution can also help you crop pictures a bit more aggressively.