Sony A850 vs Sony W690

Its time to take a deeper look at the Sony A850 vs Sony W690, one is a Advanced DSLR and the other is a Small Sensor Compact and they are both designed by Sony. There exists a crucial gap among the image resolutions of the A850 (25MP) and W690 (16MP) and the A850 (Full frame) and W690 (1/2.3") enjoy different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The A850 was launched 22 months before the W690 making the cameras a generation away from one another. Both of these cameras come with different body type with the Sony A850 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony W690 being a Compact camera.

Before delving in to a in depth comparison, below is a short overview of how the A850 matches up against the W690 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pictures for Sony Alpha DSLR-A850 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W690. The complete galleries are viewable at Sony A850 Gallery and Sony W690 Gallery.

When you are intending to carry around your camera, you'll need to consider its weight and size. The Sony A850 comes with external measurements of 156mm x 117mm x 82mm (6.1" x 4.6" x 3.2") and a weight of 895 grams (1.97 lbs) while the Sony W690 has specifications of 94mm x 56mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") with a weight of 142 grams (0.31 lbs).

Contrast the Sony A850 vs Sony W690 in the latest Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you have chosen at that time. The following is the front view physical size comparison of the A850 versus the W690.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the A850 and W690 is 54 and 95 respectively.

Normally, its tough to imagine the difference in sensor sizes purely by researching technical specs. The pic below might give you a clearer sense of the sensor measurements in the A850 and W690.

As you can tell, both cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The A850 due to its larger sensor is going to make achieving bokeh simpler and the Sony A850 will provide you with greater detail utilizing its extra 9 Megapixels. Greater resolution will make it easier to crop photos somewhat more aggressively. The more aged A850 will be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.