Sony A290 vs Sony W800

Lets look closer at the Sony A290 versus Sony W800, one is a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and they are both designed by Sony. There exists a huge gap between the resolutions of the A290 (14MP) and W800 (20MP) and the A290 (APS-C) and W800 (1/2.3") feature different sensor size.

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The A290 was brought out 4 years before the W800 which is quite a significant gap as far as technology is concerned. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Sony A290 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony W800 being a Compact camera.

Before getting in to a detailed comparison, below is a quick view of how the A290 matches up against the W800 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Sony Alpha DSLR-A290 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W800. The entire galleries are available at Sony A290 Gallery and Sony W800 Gallery.

For anybody who is going to travel with your camera regularly, you need to factor in its weight and volume. The Sony A290 enjoys outer dimensions of 128mm x 97mm x 86mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 3.4") having a weight of 549 grams (1.21 lbs) and the Sony W800 has sizing of 97mm x 55mm x 21mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 0.8") accompanied by a weight of 125 grams (0.28 lbs).

Contrast the Sony A290 versus Sony W800 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you select at that time. Following is the front view sizing comparison of the A290 and the W800.

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability score of the A290 and W800 is 66 and 96 respectively.

Normally, it's difficult to visualize the gap between sensor dimensions purely by going over a spec sheet. The image below will help offer you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the A290 and W800.

As you can see, the two cameras enjoy different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The A290 because of its bigger sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field simpler and the Sony W800 will offer you more detail having its extra 6MP. Higher resolution will let you crop photographs far more aggressively. The more aged A290 is going to be behind with regard to sensor tech.