Sony A500 vs Sony HX5

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Sony A500 and Sony HX5, former is a Entry-Level DSLR while the other is a Small Sensor Compact and they are both designed by Sony. The image resolution of the A500 (12MP) and the HX5 (10MP) is fairly comparable but the A500 (APS-C) and HX5 (1/2.4") provide different sensor measurements.

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The A500 was unveiled 9 months earlier than the HX5 and they are of a similar age. Both of the cameras feature different body design with the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony HX5 being a Compact camera.

Before we go right into a in-depth comparison, here is a brief highlight of how the A500 matches up vs the HX5 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5. The full galleries are available at Sony A500 Gallery & Sony HX5 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to carry around your camera, you have to factor its weight and proportions. The Sony A500 has got outer 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 HX5 has measurements of 102mm x 58mm x 29mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.1") along with a weight of 200 grams (0.44 lbs).

Check out the Sony A500 and Sony HX5 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are utilizing at that time. The following is a front view scale comparison of the A500 vs the HX5.

Using size and weight, the portability score of the A500 and HX5 is 63 and 92 respectively.

In many cases, its difficult to imagine the difference in sensor sizes simply by seeing technical specs. The picture here should give you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the A500 and HX5.

As you have seen, both of those cameras feature different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The A500 with its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallower depth of field easier and the Sony A500 will produce extra detail having an extra 2MP. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop photos way more aggressively. The more aged A500 will be behind when it comes to sensor innovation.