Sony A500 vs Sony W610

Below is a in depth assessment of the Sony A500 vs Sony W610, former being a Entry-Level DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and both are designed by Sony. The resolution of the A500 (12MP) and the W610 (14MP) is pretty close but the A500 (APS-C) and W610 (1/2.3") offer totally different sensor sizes.

Photography Glossary

The A500 was unveiled 3 years before the W610 and that is a fairly serious difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of the cameras feature different body design with the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony W610 being a Compact camera.

Before we go straight to a more detailed comparison, here is a short overview of how the A500 scores versus the W610 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W610. The full galleries are viewable at Sony A500 Gallery & Sony W610 Gallery.

In case you're going to lug around your camera, you'll have to consider its weight and proportions. The Sony A500 comes with outer dimensions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") having a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs) whilst the Sony W610 has measurements of 93mm x 52mm x 19mm (3.7" x 2.0" x 0.7") accompanied by a weight of 113 grams (0.25 lbs).

Check out the Sony A500 vs Sony W610 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary depending on the lens you are utilising at that time. Here is a front view over all size comparison of the A500 and the W610.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the A500 and W610 is 63 and 97 respectively.

Normally, its hard to see the gap in sensor measurements merely by researching a spec sheet. The photograph here will provide you a better sense of the sensor dimensions in the A500 and W610.

As you can see, both of these cameras feature different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The A500 with its bigger sensor will make getting bokeh simpler and the Sony W610 will render greater detail having an extra 2MP. Higher resolution will allow you to crop shots way more aggressively. The older A500 will be disadvantaged in sensor tech.