As well as being compared against other entry-level DSLRs, the Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 is also often compared to pro DSLRs, mirrorless and compacts. The Sony Alpha DSLR-A500's top rivals come from Sony (such as the SLT A65 and the SLT A58) and Canon (such as the EOS Digital Rebel XSi and the Rebel T1i)
Generally, some of the advantages of the Sony DSLR-A500 compared to mirrorless interchangeable-lens competitors include: it has higher quality type of viewfinder (pentamirror vs none), has better image stabilization (sensor shift vs none), much more lenses available (126 lenses vs 13 lenses), has a much longer battery life (1000 shots vs 295 shots) and uses fast phase detection autofocus (phase detection vs hybrid detection).
However, on average it doesn't record movies (none vs 1080p @ 60fps), has a slightly smaller screen (3" vs 3.2"), has a much lower resolution screen (230k dots vs 1,620k dots), slightly smaller viewfinder (0.52x vs 0.70x) and takes significantly lower resolution photos (12.2 MP vs 24.7 MP).
Generally, some of the advantages of the Sony DSLR-A500 compared to compact competitors include: it has a much larger screen (3" vs 1.5"), has better image stabilization (sensor shift vs none), much higher maximum light sensitivity (12,800 ISO vs 400 ISO), has a screen which flips out and has a CMOS-family sensor (CMOS vs CCD).
However, on average it has a much lower resolution screen (230k dots vs 1,229k dots), is much larger (professional size (137×104×84 mm) vs compact (102×58×38 mm)), is thicker (3.3" vs 1.4") and is much heavier (630 g vs 281 g).
