Sony A500 vs Sony W730

Its time to take a closer look at the Sony A500 and Sony W730, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Compact and they are both offered by Sony. There exists a huge gap among the sensor resolutions of the A500 (12MP) and W730 (16MP) and the A500 (APS-C) and W730 (1/2.3") offer totally different sensor sizing.

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The A500 was introduced 4 years prior to the W730 and that is a fairly significant gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of the cameras have different body design with the Sony A500 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony W730 being a Compact camera.

Before getting into a complete comparison, here is a brief summary of how the A500 scores versus the W730 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W730. The whole galleries are provided at Sony A500 Gallery and Sony W730 Gallery.

For anyone who is going to lug around your camera frequently, you will want to consider its weight and proportions. The Sony A500 has got exterior dimensions of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") with a weight of 630 grams (1.39 lbs) while the Sony W730 has measurements of 93mm x 52mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.0" x 0.9") having a weight of 122 grams (0.27 lbs).

Contrast the Sony A500 and Sony W730 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you have at that time. Below is a front view over all size comparison of the A500 compared to the W730.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the A500 and W730 is 63 and 96 respectively.

Normally, it is tough to see the difference in sensor measurements merely by viewing a spec sheet. The graphic below may provide you a clearer sense of the sensor dimensions in the A500 and W730.

Clearly, the two cameras have different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The A500 with its larger sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field easier and the Sony W730 will render greater detail using its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will also enable you to crop pics a bit more aggressively. The older A500 will be behind with regard to sensor tech.