Pentax RZ10 vs Sony A100

Its time to look closer at the Pentax RZ10 and Sony A100, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Pentax and Sony. There exists a large gap among the image resolutions of the RZ10 (14MP) and A100 (10MP) and the RZ10 (1/2.3") and A100 (APS-C) use totally different sensor dimensions.

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The RZ10 was launched 5 years later than the A100 and that is a fairly serious difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both cameras offer different body type with the Pentax RZ10 being a Compact camera and the Sony A100 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting through a detailed comparison, below is a short introduction of how the RZ10 matches up against the A100 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Pentax Optio RZ10 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A100. The complete galleries are provided at Pentax RZ10 Gallery & Sony A100 Gallery.

In case you're planning to carry your camera, you are going to need to consider its weight and volume. The Pentax RZ10 provides outside measurements of 97mm x 61mm x 33mm (3.8" x 2.4" x 1.3") with a weight of 178 grams (0.39 lbs) whilst the Sony A100 has sizing of 133mm x 95mm x 71mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 2.8") along with a weight of 638 grams (1.41 lbs).

Look at the Pentax RZ10 and Sony A100 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you have attached during that time. Underneath is the front view over all size comparison of the RZ10 vs the A100.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the RZ10 and A100 is 92 and 64 respectively.

Quite often, it's difficult to visualise the gap in sensor sizing only by looking through technical specs. The visual here might provide you a better sense of the sensor sizing in the RZ10 and A100.

As you can tell, each of these cameras offer different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The RZ10 featuring a smaller sensor will make getting shallow DOF harder and the Pentax RZ10 will result in greater detail utilizing its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also make it easier to crop photographs a little more aggressively. The fresher RZ10 is going to have an advantage when it comes to sensor technology.