Sony A450 vs Sony W290

Lets look more closely at the Sony A450 and Sony W290, one is a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and both are built by Sony. The sensor resolution of the A450 (14MP) and the W290 (12MP) is relatively well matched but the A450 (APS-C) and W290 (1/2.3") provide different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The A450 was introduced 11 months after the W290 which means that they are of a similar generation. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Sony A450 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony W290 being a Compact camera.

Before delving right into a complete comparison, here is a brief summation of how the A450 matches up against the W290 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a preview of the gallery photos for Sony Alpha DSLR-A450 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290. The whole galleries are provided at Sony A450 Gallery and Sony W290 Gallery.

For those who are going to travel with your camera, you should factor its weight and proportions. The Sony A450 provides outside measurements of 137mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.2") and a weight of 560 grams (1.23 lbs) and the Sony W290 has measurements of 98mm x 57mm x 23mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs).

Check out the Sony A450 and Sony W290 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary based on the lens you select during that time. The following is a front view physical size comparison of the A450 and the W290.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the A450 and W290 is 65 and 94 respectively.

More often than not, it's tough to picture the gap between sensor dimensions just by checking technical specs. The pic below will provide you a far better sense of the sensor sizing in the A450 and W290.

As you can tell, both the cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The A450 having a bigger sensor is going to make achieving shallower DOF simpler and the Sony A450 will give greater detail using its extra 2 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also make it easier to crop pictures a bit more aggressively. The more recent A450 provides a benefit in sensor technology.