Sony A500 vs Sony NEX-6

The following is a complete assessment of the Sony A500 versus Sony NEX-6, former is a Entry-Level DSLR while the latter is a Advanced Mirrorless and both of them are manufactured by Sony. There is a sizable difference among the image resolutions of the A500 (12MP) and NEX-6 (16MP) but both cameras have the same sensor dimensions (APS-C).

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The A500 was revealed 4 years before the NEX-6 which is a fairly significant difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of the cameras have different body design with the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony NEX-6 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting straight to a comprehensive comparison, here is a brief summary of how the A500 scores versus the NEX-6 in terms of portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 & Sony Alpha NEX-6. The full galleries are available at Sony A500 Gallery & Sony NEX-6 Gallery.

If you're intending to travel with your camera frequently, you should factor in its weight and size. The Sony A500 has got external dimensions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") accompanied by a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs) whilst the Sony NEX-6 has specifications of 120mm x 67mm x 43mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 345 grams (0.76 lbs).

See the Sony A500 versus Sony NEX-6 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you have chosen during that time. The following is a front view physical size comparison of the A500 compared to the NEX-6.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability grade of the A500 and NEX-6 is 63 and 85 respectively.

Often, it is difficult to imagine the gap in sensor dimensions merely by viewing specs. The picture here will provide you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the A500 and NEX-6.

As you can plainly see, both cameras have the same sensor dimensions albeit different MP. You can expect the Sony NEX-6 to result in extra detail because of its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will allow you to crop pictures a bit more aggressively. The more aged A500 will be disadvantaged with regard to sensor tech.