As part of its plans for world domination of DSLR sales, Sony has assured its place in the market not only by delivering quality, but delivering en masse too. With the sturdily built Alpha A700 now out of production, the A500 and A550 are the next-closest offerings from the Sony camp. But with the two models released simultaneously, what exactly separates the a500 from the a550? The What Digital Camera Sony Alpha a500 review takes a look…

Sony Alpha a500 vs a550 review

The A500 is the younger brother of the A550. 
As such it’s not quite as ‘mature’, and a number of features differ, making it the more low-spec of the two. The sensor is a less resolute 12.3MP that offers a smaller maximum output size. However, the very same APS-C sized CMOS technology and BIONZ engine is used to full effect as per the A550. The LCD on the A500’s rear still follows the A550’s tilt mechanism, but is a lower resolution 230k-dot affair – more like the resolution found on compact cameras. Continuous shooting doesn’t include the ‘Speed Priority’ of the A550, although the 
A500 is still capable of the same 5fps burst mode, or 4fps in live view. The main difference, though, is that the buffer is not able to process as much information as quickly, with less than half the capacity meaning you’ll likely find burst shooting clogs up the camera quicker. All these differences would make sense for a more entry-level purchaser with a tighter budget, but – and it’s really quite the big but on this occasion – the street prices aren’t really all that far apart.

Sony Alpha a500 vs a550 comparison table