Ricoh WG-30 vs Sony A550

Its time to take a closer look at the Ricoh WG-30 and Sony A550, one is a Waterproof and the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by competitors Ricoh and Sony. The image resolution of the WG-30 (16MP) and the A550 (14MP) is fairly comparable but the WG-30 (1/2.3") and A550 (APS-C) possess totally different sensor sizing.

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The WG-30 was announced 4 years after the A550 which is a fairly big gap as far as camera tech is concerned. The two cameras come with different body type with the Ricoh WG-30 being a Compact camera and the Sony A550 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before diving through a thorough comparison, below is a brief highlight of how the WG-30 grades vs the A550 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Ricoh WG-30 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A550. The whole galleries are available at Ricoh WG-30 Gallery and Sony A550 Gallery.

When you are planning to carry around your camera often, you'll need to take into account its weight and measurements. The Ricoh WG-30 features physical dimensions of 123mm x 62mm x 30mm (4.8" x 2.4" x 1.2") accompanied by a weight of 192 grams (0.42 lbs) while the Sony A550 has proportions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") with a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs).

Examine the Ricoh WG-30 and Sony A550 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you are using at that time. The following is the front view overall size comparison of the WG-30 and the A550.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the WG-30 and A550 is 91 and 63 respectively.

Often, its hard to visualise the gap in sensor sizes purely by checking out technical specs. The pic here may provide you a more clear sense of the sensor dimensions in the WG-30 and A550.

As you have seen, each of these cameras have got different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The WG-30 with its smaller sensor will make shooting shallow DOF more challenging and the Ricoh WG-30 will provide extra detail with its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will let you crop pics much more aggressively. The younger WG-30 will have a benefit when it comes to sensor technology.