Sony A500 vs Sony HX20V

Lets look more closely at the Sony A500 and Sony HX20V, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both of them are sold by Sony. There is a big difference between the sensor resolutions of the A500 (12MP) and HX20V (18MP) and the A500 (APS-C) and HX20V (1/2.3") offer totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The A500 was brought out 3 years earlier than the HX20V and that is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Each of the cameras feature different body design with the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony HX20V being a Compact camera.

Before delving right into a comprehensive comparison, here is a concise synopsis of how the A500 matches up against the HX20V in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery photos for Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX20V. The entire galleries are available at Sony A500 Gallery and Sony HX20V Gallery.

If you are going to lug around your camera often, you have to consider its weight and dimensions. The Sony A500 comes with external measurements of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") having a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs) and the Sony HX20V has dimensions of 107mm x 62mm x 35mm (4.2" x 2.4" x 1.4") with a weight of 254 grams (0.56 lbs).

See the Sony A500 and Sony HX20V in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you select at that time. Following is a front view sizing comparison of the A500 against the HX20V.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability grade of the A500 and HX20V is 63 and 90 respectively.

Oftentimes, it's tough to visualise the gap between sensor measurements purely by checking technical specs. The graphic here might give you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the A500 and HX20V.

As you can tell, each of these cameras come with different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The A500 due to its bigger sensor will make achieving shallower DOF simpler and the Sony HX20V will give extra detail having its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also allow you to crop photographs a good deal more aggressively. The older A500 is going to be behind with regard to sensor technology.