Sony A550 vs Sony RX100 III

Let's look a bit more in depth at the Sony A550 and Sony RX100 III, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Large Sensor Compact and both of them are produced by Sony. There exists a crucial gap among the image resolutions of the A550 (14MP) and RX100 III (20MP) and the A550 (APS-C) and RX100 III (1") provide totally different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The A550 was launched 5 years earlier than the RX100 III and that is a fairly serious gap as far as camera technology is concerned. The two cameras have different body design with the Sony A550 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony RX100 III being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before going right into a complete comparison, here is a simple summary of how the A550 matches up vs the RX100 III when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III. The complete galleries are provided at Sony A550 Gallery and Sony RX100 III Gallery.

For those who are intending to carry your camera, you will need to consider its weight and volume. The Sony A550 has outside measurements of 137mm x 104mm x 84mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.3") accompanied by a weight of 632 grams (1.39 lbs) whilst the Sony RX100 III has sizing of 102mm x 58mm x 41mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.6") having a weight of 290 grams (0.64 lbs).

See the Sony A550 and Sony RX100 III in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you have at that moment. Underneath is a front view scale comparison of the A550 compared to the RX100 III.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the A550 and RX100 III is 63 and 89 respectively.

More often than not, it can be hard to envision the gap in sensor sizing only by viewing a spec sheet. The visual below should offer you a more clear sense of the sensor sizing in the A550 and RX100 III.

As you can see, both cameras have different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The A550 due to its bigger sensor will make shooting shallow DOF less difficult and the Sony RX100 III will render more detail utilizing its extra 6MP. Higher resolution will also help you crop pictures a bit more aggressively. The older A550 will be disadvantaged in sensor technology.