Sony A850 vs Sony W380

Its time to take a closer look at the Sony A850 and Sony W380, one is a Advanced DSLR and the latter is a Ultracompact and both of them are produced by Sony. There exists a crucial gap between the resolutions of the A850 (25MP) and W380 (14MP) and the A850 (Full frame) and W380 (1/2.3") use totally different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The A850 was unveiled 4 months after the W380 so they are of a similar generation. Each of the cameras come with different body type with the Sony A850 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony W380 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before going through a comprehensive comparison, below is a quick summation of how the A850 matches up vs the W380 in relation to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Sony Alpha DSLR-A850 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W380. The full galleries are provided at Sony A850 Gallery and Sony W380 Gallery.

When you are looking to carry around your camera often, you're going to have to factor its weight and size. The Sony A850 provides outer dimensions of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") accompanied by a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs) whilst the Sony W380 has specifications of 91mm x 52mm x 20mm (3.6" x 2.0" x 0.8") along with a weight of 117 grams (0.26 lbs).

Take a look at the Sony A850 and Sony W380 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change dependant on the lens you are using during that time. Following is the front view scale comparison of the A850 compared to the W380.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the A850 and W380 is 54 and 96 respectively.

Typically, it can be hard to see the difference between sensor sizes merely by checking specifications. The image below might give you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the A850 and W380.

Plainly, both of the cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The A850 having a bigger sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field simpler and the Sony A850 will give extra detail having an extra 11MP. Higher resolution can also allow you to crop pictures somewhat more aggressively.