Sony A99 II vs Sony A580

Its time to look a little more closely at the Sony A99 II and Sony A580, former being a Advanced DSLR while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR and both are built by Sony. There exists a substantial gap between the image resolutions of the A99 II (42MP) and A580 (16MP) and the A99 II (Full frame) and A580 (APS-C) have different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The A99 II was launched 5 years later than the A580 and that is quite a big difference as far as technology is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Sony A99 II being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony A580 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting straight to a in-depth comparison, here is a brief view of how the A99 II scores vs the A580 for portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Sony Alpha A99 II & Sony Alpha DSLR-A580. The complete galleries are available at Sony A99 II Gallery & Sony A580 Gallery.

In case you're going to carry your camera regularly, you will have to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Sony A99 II provides outside measurements of 143mm x 104mm x 76mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.0") having a weight of 849 grams (1.87 lbs) and the Sony A580 has dimensions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") and a weight of 599 grams (1.32 lbs).

Check the Sony A99 II and Sony A580 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you have attached at that moment. Here is a front view sizing comparison of the A99 II vs the A580.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the A99 II and A580 is 57 and 64 respectively.

More often than not, it is very difficult to picture the difference between sensor sizing only by reading through technical specs. The visual below might offer you a more clear sense of the sensor sizing in the A99 II and A580.

As you have seen, the two cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The A99 II featuring a larger sensor is going to make shooting shallower depth of field simpler and the Sony A99 II will give more detail utilizing its extra 26 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop pics a bit more aggressively. The newer A99 II should have a benefit with regard to sensor technology.