Sony A290 vs Sony RX100 III

Its time to look much closer at the Sony A290 vs Sony RX100 III, former is a Entry-Level DSLR while the other is a Large Sensor Compact and both are designed by Sony. There exists a noticeable gap between the sensor resolutions of the A290 (14MP) and RX100 III (20MP) and the A290 (APS-C) and RX100 III (1") feature totally different sensor dimensions.

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The A290 was revealed 4 years before the RX100 III which is quite a sizable difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Sony A290 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony RX100 III being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before getting through a more detailed comparison, below is a brief highlight of how the A290 matches up vs the RX100 III when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Sony Alpha DSLR-A290 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III. The full galleries are provided at Sony A290 Gallery & Sony RX100 III Gallery.

In case you're going to carry around your camera, you're going to have to think about its weight and measurements. The Sony A290 comes with outer dimensions of 128mm x 97mm x 86mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 3.4") accompanied by a weight of 549 grams (1.21 lbs) and the Sony RX100 III has proportions of 102mm x 58mm x 41mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.6") accompanied by a weight of 290 grams (0.64 lbs).

Take a look at the Sony A290 vs Sony RX100 III in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you select at that moment. Below is the front view proportions comparison of the A290 and the RX100 III.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the A290 and RX100 III is 66 and 89 respectively.

Quite often, it can be hard to envision the difference between sensor sizes just by reading through technical specs. The picture underneath should give you a clearer sense of the sensor sizes in the A290 and RX100 III.

As you can tell, both cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The A290 using its larger sensor will make shooting shallower depth of field less difficult and the Sony RX100 III will give greater detail because of its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also allow you to crop pics much more aggressively. The more aged A290 is going to be behind in sensor tech.