Sony a1 vs Sony W550

Below is a in-depth comparison of the Sony a1 and Sony W550, one being a Pro Mirrorless and the other is a Ultracompact and they are both manufactured by Sony. There is a big difference between the sensor resolutions of the a1 (50MP) and W550 (14MP) and the a1 (Full frame) and W550 (1/2.3") use totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The a1 was brought out 9 years later than the W550 and that is quite a big gap as far as tech is concerned. Each of the cameras offer different body type with the Sony a1 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony W550 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before going in to a in depth comparison, below is a concise view of how the a1 scores versus the W550 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Sony Alpha a1 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W550. The entire galleries are provided at Sony a1 Gallery and Sony W550 Gallery.

When you are intending to lug around your camera often, you'll have to consider its weight and volume. The Sony a1 has physical measurements of 129mm x 97mm x 70mm (5.1" x 3.8" x 2.8") along with a weight of 737 grams (1.62 lbs) and the Sony W550 has sizing of 94mm x 56mm x 19mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.7") and a weight of 110 grams (0.24 lbs).

See the Sony a1 and Sony W550 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary depending on the lens you are employing at that moment. Below is the front view dimension comparison of the a1 against the W550.

Considering size and weight, the portability grade of the a1 and W550 is 61 and 96 respectively.

In many cases, it is very hard to see the difference between sensor measurements simply by checking specs. The photograph underneath may give you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the a1 and W550.

As you can plainly see, both the cameras enjoy different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The a1 due to its larger sensor will make achieving shallow depth of field simpler and the Sony a1 will give greater detail having its extra 36 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also let you crop pics far more aggressively. The more modern a1 is going to have an edge in sensor innovation.