Pentax WS80 vs Sony A37

Below is a extended comparison of the Pentax WS80 vs Sony A37, one being a Waterproof and the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Pentax and Sony. There is a huge difference among the image resolutions of the WS80 (10MP) and A37 (16MP) and the WS80 (1/2.3") and A37 (APS-C) boast totally different sensor dimensions.

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The WS80 was released 3 years before the A37 and that is a fairly significant gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Pentax WS80 being a Compact camera and the Sony A37 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving straight to a complete comparison, here is a quick summation of how the WS80 scores versus the A37 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Pentax Optio WS80 and Sony SLT-A37. The complete galleries are viewable at Pentax WS80 Gallery and Sony A37 Gallery.

For those who are planning to lug around your camera frequently, you are going to need to factor its weight and measurements. The Pentax WS80 has external dimensions of 92mm x 60mm x 22mm (3.6" x 2.4" x 0.9") with a weight of 125 grams (0.28 lbs) while the Sony A37 has proportions of 124mm x 92mm x 85mm (4.9" x 3.6" x 3.3") with a weight of 506 grams (1.12 lbs).

Check out the Pentax WS80 vs Sony A37 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you are utilizing during that time. The following is a front view physical size comparison of the WS80 versus the A37.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the WS80 and A37 is 95 and 67 respectively.

Usually, its tough to visualise the contrast in sensor measurements merely by researching specs. The photograph underneath should give you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the WS80 and A37.

As you can plainly see, the two cameras provide different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The WS80 due to its smaller sensor will make getting shallower depth of field more challenging and the Sony A37 will provide you with more detail as a result of its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop shots more aggressively. The older WS80 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.