Sony A500 vs Sony NEX-5T

Following is a detailed assessment of the Sony A500 and Sony NEX-5T, former is a Entry-Level DSLR while the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and they are both designed by Sony. There is a noticeable difference between the resolutions of the A500 (12MP) and NEX-5T (16MP) but they come with the exact same sensor sizes (APS-C).

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The A500 was revealed 5 years before the NEX-5T which is quite a sizable difference as far as tech is concerned. Each of the cameras come with different body type with the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony NEX-5T being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before we go straight into a in-depth comparison, below is a concise summary of how the A500 matches up versus the NEX-5T for portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 & Sony Alpha NEX-5T. The full galleries are viewable at Sony A500 Gallery & Sony NEX-5T Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to carry around your camera, you need to factor its weight and proportions. The Sony A500 has got external measurements of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") accompanied by a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs) and the Sony NEX-5T has measurements of 111mm x 59mm x 39mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") along with a weight of 276 grams (0.61 lbs).

Check out the Sony A500 and Sony NEX-5T in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you choose at the time. Below is the front view sizing comparison of the A500 and the NEX-5T.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability grade of the A500 and NEX-5T is 63 and 89 respectively.

In many cases, it is very hard to visualize the difference between sensor sizes merely by reading through technical specs. The image below should give you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the A500 and NEX-5T.

As you can tell, each of the cameras posses the exact same sensor measurements albeit different resolution. You can count on the Sony NEX-5T to resolve extra detail because of its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also let you crop shots somewhat more aggressively. The more aged A500 is going to be behind when it comes to sensor tech.