Samsung SL820 vs Sony A580

Let's look a little more in depth at the Samsung SL820 and Sony A580, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by companies Samsung and Sony. There is a substantial difference among the sensor resolutions of the SL820 (12MP) and A580 (16MP) and the SL820 (1/2.3") and A580 (APS-C) enjoy different sensor sizing.

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The SL820 was revealed 3 years prior to the A580 and that is a fairly big difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Samsung SL820 being a Compact camera and the Sony A580 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting in to a complete comparison, below is a quick introduction of how the SL820 grades versus the A580 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Samsung SL820 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A580. The full galleries are available at Samsung SL820 Gallery & Sony A580 Gallery.

If you are looking to carry your camera often, you are going to need to factor its weight and volume. The Samsung SL820 has exterior dimensions of 95mm x 59mm x 23mm (3.7" x 2.3" x 0.9") with a weight of 168 grams (0.37 lbs) whilst the Sony A580 has sizing of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") and a weight of 599 grams (1.32 lbs).

Contrast the Samsung SL820 and Sony A580 in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you have chosen during that time. Below is the front view proportions comparison of the SL820 versus the A580.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability score of the SL820 and A580 is 94 and 64 respectively.

Oftentimes, it is very hard to picture the gap in sensor sizing simply by looking through specs. The photograph here will give you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the SL820 and A580.

As you can plainly see, each of the cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The SL820 using its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field more challenging and the Sony A580 will render more detail because of its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The older SL820 will be behind with regard to sensor tech.