Sony A900 vs Sony W290

Lets look a bit more closely at the Sony A900 and Sony W290, former being a Advanced DSLR while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact and both of them are manufactured by Sony. There is a large difference between the image resolutions of the A900 (25MP) and W290 (12MP) and the A900 (Full frame) and W290 (1/2.3") feature different sensor measurements.

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The A900 was brought out 3 months before the W290 so they are both of a similar age. Both of these cameras offer different body type with the Sony A900 being a Mid-size SLR camera and the Sony W290 being a Compact camera.

Before getting in to a full comparison, below is a simple introduction of how the A900 grades against the W290 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery photos for Sony Alpha DSLR-A900 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290. The entire galleries are available at Sony A900 Gallery & Sony W290 Gallery.

If you are looking to lug around your camera often, you will want to factor its weight and size. The Sony A900 has external 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 W290 has specifications of 98mm x 57mm x 23mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 0.9") and a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs).

Compare the Sony A900 and Sony W290 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you are employing at that moment. Below is the front view sizing comparison of the A900 and the W290.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the A900 and W290 is 54 and 94 respectively.

Oftentimes, it is very tough to picture the gap between sensor measurements simply by looking at specs. The graphic here will give you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the A900 and W290.

All in all, both cameras offer different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The A900 because of its bigger sensor is going to make achieving shallower DOF less difficult and the Sony A900 will give you extra detail having its extra 13MP. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop pictures a little more aggressively.