Sony A450 vs Sony S980

Lets look much closer at the Sony A450 and Sony S980, former being a Entry-Level DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Compact and both are designed by Sony. The sensor resolution of the A450 (14MP) and the S980 (12MP) is very similar but the A450 (APS-C) and S980 (1/2.3") enjoy different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The A450 was unveiled 11 months later than the S980 so they are both of a similar age. The two cameras offer different body type with the Sony A450 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony S980 being a Compact camera.

Before delving through a more detailed comparison, below is a brief summary of how the A450 grades versus the S980 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a sample of the gallery pics for Sony Alpha DSLR-A450 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S980. The full galleries are available at Sony A450 Gallery & Sony S980 Gallery.

If you're intending to lug around your camera frequently, you should take into account its weight and dimensions. The Sony A450 has got outside measurements of 137mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.2") accompanied by a weight of 560 grams (1.23 lbs) while the Sony S980 has dimensions of 93mm x 56mm x 24mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs).

Check out the Sony A450 and Sony S980 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you have at the time. Following is the front view dimensions comparison of the A450 versus the S980.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability rating of the A450 and S980 is 65 and 94 respectively.

Generally, it is hard to imagine the difference between sensor measurements simply by going over a spec sheet. The visual here will help give you a far better sense of the sensor sizing in the A450 and S980.

Clearly, each of these cameras enjoy different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The A450 with its larger sensor is going to make achieving shallower depth of field easier and the Sony A450 will offer more detail having an extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also help you crop pics far more aggressively. The more recent A450 should have an advantage with regard to sensor innovation.