Sony A550 vs Sony A6100

Lets take a closer look at the Sony A550 and Sony A6100, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the other is a Advanced Mirrorless and they are both built by Sony. There is a crucial difference between the resolutions of the A550 (14MP) and A6100 (24MP) but they use the exact same sensor sizing (APS-C).

Photography Glossary

The A550 was released 10 years earlier than the A6100 and that is quite a serious gap as far as tech is concerned. Each of the cameras come with different body type with the Sony A550 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony A6100 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before going in to a thorough comparison, below is a concise summary of how the A550 scores against the A6100 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Following is a sample of the gallery pics for Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 and Sony Alpha a6100. The complete galleries are viewable at Sony A550 Gallery and Sony A6100 Gallery.

When you are going to carry your camera often, you are going to need to factor in its weight and proportions. The Sony A550 enjoys physical measurements of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") and a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs) while the Sony A6100 has measurements of 120mm x 67mm x 59mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 2.3") having a weight of 396 grams (0.87 lbs).

Contrast the Sony A550 and Sony A6100 in the latest Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you have chosen at the time. Underneath is the front view proportions comparison of the A550 versus the A6100.

Factoring in size and weight, the portability score of the A550 and A6100 is 63 and 81 respectively.

Generally, it can be tough to visualise the contrast between sensor sizing simply by checking technical specs. The photograph below should provide you a clearer sense of the sensor sizing in the A550 and A6100.

As you can tell, both of these cameras posses the exact same sensor measurements but not the same MP. You should expect to see the Sony A6100 to give greater detail as a result of its extra 10 Megapixels. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop images somewhat more aggressively. The older A550 is going to be behind with regard to sensor technology.