Sony A850 vs Sony RX100 VA

Its time to look a bit more in depth at the Sony A850 and Sony RX100 VA, one being a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Large Sensor Compact and both of them are produced by Sony. There is a crucial difference among the sensor resolutions of the A850 (25MP) and RX100 VA (20MP) and the A850 (Full frame) and RX100 VA (1") have different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The A850 was brought out 9 years earlier than the RX100 VA and that is a fairly serious gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Both the cameras have different body design with the Sony A850 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony RX100 VA being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before we go right into a full comparison, here is a brief overview of how the A850 scores against the RX100 VA when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Sony Alpha DSLR-A850 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 V(A). The entire galleries are provided at Sony A850 Gallery and Sony RX100 VA Gallery.

For anybody who is planning to carry your camera regularly, you need to factor its weight and size. The Sony A850 comes with external dimensions of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") having a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs) and the Sony RX100 VA has specifications of 102mm x 58mm x 41mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.6") and a weight of 299 grams (0.66 lbs).

Check out the Sony A850 and Sony RX100 VA in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you are utilizing at the time. The following is a front view dimensions comparison of the A850 and the RX100 VA.

Using size and weight, the portability score of the A850 and RX100 VA is 54 and 89 respectively.

Generally, it is very hard to picture the difference in sensor sizing only by checking out a spec sheet. The visual underneath may give you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the A850 and RX100 VA.

As you can see, the two cameras have different resolutions and different sensor sizing. The A850 due to its bigger sensor is going to make shooting shallow DOF less difficult and the Sony A850 will show more detail having its extra 5MP. Higher resolution will let you crop photographs a bit more aggressively. The older A850 will be behind in sensor technology.