Sony A350 vs Sony S980

Its time to look a little more closely at the Sony A350 vs Sony S980, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Compact and they are both offered by Sony. The image resolution of the A350 (14MP) and the S980 (12MP) is fairly well matched but the A350 (APS-C) and S980 (1/2.3") come with different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The A350 was revealed 8 months prior to the S980 which means that they are both of a similar generation. Both of these cameras offer different body type with the Sony A350 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony S980 being a Compact camera.

Before getting in to a in depth comparison, below is a brief view of how the A350 grades versus the S980 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pictures for Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S980. The full galleries are available at Sony A350 Gallery and Sony S980 Gallery.

For those who are planning to lug around your camera regularly, you're going to have to think about its weight and size. The Sony A350 enjoys exterior measurements of 131mm x 99mm x 75mm (5.2" x 3.9" x 3.0") having a weight of 674 grams (1.49 lbs) whilst the Sony S980 has specifications of 93mm x 56mm x 24mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs).

Analyze the Sony A350 vs Sony S980 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you are using at that time. Here is the front view sizing comparison of the A350 against the S980.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the A350 and S980 is 62 and 94 respectively.

More often than not, it is difficult to imagine the contrast between sensor measurements simply by reading through specs. The visual underneath will help give you a stronger sense of the sensor sizing in the A350 and S980.

All in all, both of these cameras offer different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The A350 using its larger sensor is going to make getting bokeh less difficult and the Sony A350 will resolve more detail because of its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop pics a little more aggressively. The older A350 is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.