Ricoh WG-5 GPS vs Sony A550

Its time to take a deeper look at the Ricoh WG-5 GPS versus Sony A550, one being a Waterproof and the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by rivals Ricoh and Sony. The image resolution of the WG-5 GPS (16MP) and the A550 (14MP) is fairly well matched but the WG-5 GPS (1/2.3") and A550 (APS-C) posses different sensor measurements.

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The WG-5 GPS was released 5 years later than the A550 and that is quite a large gap as far as technology is concerned. Each of the cameras feature different body design with the Ricoh WG-5 GPS being a Compact camera and the Sony A550 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting into a detailed comparison, here is a brief view of how the WG-5 GPS scores against the A550 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Ricoh WG-5 GPS and Sony Alpha DSLR-A550. The complete galleries are viewable at Ricoh WG-5 GPS Gallery and Sony A550 Gallery.

If you are planning to carry your camera frequently, you will want to factor its weight and measurements. The Ricoh WG-5 GPS comes with external dimensions of 125mm x 65mm x 32mm (4.9" x 2.6" x 1.3") with a weight of 236 grams (0.52 lbs) and the Sony A550 has proportions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") having a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs).

Analyze the Ricoh WG-5 GPS versus Sony A550 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you select at that moment. Here is a front view scale comparison of the WG-5 GPS vs the A550.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the WG-5 GPS and A550 is 90 and 63 respectively.

Quite often, it is hard to imagine the difference between sensor sizing simply by checking a spec sheet. The photograph below should offer you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the WG-5 GPS and A550.

As you can see, both of those cameras feature different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The WG-5 GPS because of its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallower DOF more challenging and the Ricoh WG-5 GPS will give you more detail as a result of its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop photos way more aggressively. The fresher WG-5 GPS provides an advantage with regard to sensor tech.