Sony S950 vs Sony A77

Let's take a closer look at the Sony S950 versus Sony A77, one is a Small Sensor Compact and the other is a Advanced DSLR and both of them are built by Sony. There is a significant difference between the resolutions of the S950 (10MP) and A77 (24MP) and the S950 (1/2.3") and A77 (APS-C) posses totally different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The S950 was announced 3 years before the A77 which is quite a sizable gap as far as tech is concerned. Each of these cameras have different body design with the Sony S950 being a Compact camera and the Sony A77 being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before getting right into a thorough comparison, here is a brief summary of how the S950 matches up vs the A77 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S950 and Sony SLT-A77. The whole galleries are provided at Sony S950 Gallery and Sony A77 Gallery.

When you are going to carry around your camera frequently, you will want to take into account its weight and dimensions. The Sony S950 enjoys external measurements of 93mm x 56mm x 24mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") and a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs) and the Sony A77 has dimensions of 143mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.6" x 4.1" x 3.2") accompanied by a weight of 732 grams (1.61 lbs).

Examine the Sony S950 versus Sony A77 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ depending on the lens you are employing at that moment. Here is a front view measurement comparison of the S950 against the A77.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the S950 and A77 is 94 and 59 respectively.

Often, it's hard to envision the difference between sensor sizes just by reading through a spec sheet. The picture below may offer you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the S950 and A77.

As you can see, both of these cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The S950 with its tinier sensor will make getting bokeh trickier and the Sony A77 will resolve extra detail with its extra 14 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also help you crop images more aggressively. The more aged S950 is going to be disadvantaged with regard to sensor innovation.