Canon EOS
50D
 vs
Sony Alpha
DSLR-A550

General

 Canon EOS 50D Sony Alpha DSLR-A550
Brand
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 Canon Sony
Lowest price
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 $1,281.99 Unknown
Announced
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 August, 2008 August, 2009

Sensor
Type
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 CMOS CMOS
Size
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 APS-C 22.3x14.9mm APS-C 23.4x15.6mm
Crop factor
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 1.6x 1.5x
Megapixels
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 15.1 MP 14 MP
Light sensitivity
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 3,200 ISO 12,800 ISO
Light sensitivity (boost)
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 12,800 ISO None
Sensor cleaning
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 Yes Unknown

Sensor (Advanced)
True resolution
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 15.1 MP 14 MP
Native resolution
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 4752 x 3168 4592 x 3056
Pixel size
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 22.1 µm² 26 µm²

Screen
Type
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 LCD LCD
Size
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 3.0" 3.0"
Resolution
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 920k dots 921k dots
Touch screen
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 No No
Flips out
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 No Yes
Live view
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 Yes Yes

Lenses
Lens availability
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 162 lenses 92 lenses
Lens focus motor
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 Yes Yes
Lens mount
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 Canon EF Sony Alpha

Form factor
Size
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 146x108x74 mm 137x104x84 mm
Depth
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 2.9" 3.3"
Weight
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 822 g 632 g
Interchangeable lenses
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 Yes Yes
Waterproof
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 No No
Weather sealed
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 No No

Viewfinder
Type
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 Pentaprism Pentamirror
Viewfinder size
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 0.59x 0.52x
Coverage
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 95% 95%

Movies
Format
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 None None
Autofocus
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 None None

Features
Panorama
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 No No
HDR
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 No Yes
3D
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 No No
Image stabilization
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 None Sensor shift
Supports RAW
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 Yes Yes
GPS
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 No No

Performance
Startup delay
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 300 ms Unknown
Shutter lag
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 131 ms Unknown
Battery life
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 640 shots Unknown
Continuous shooting
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 6.3 fps 7 fps

Focus system
Autofocus
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 Phase detection Contrast detection
Focus points
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 9 Unknown
Cross type focus points
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 9 Unknown

Shutter
Max
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 1/8000s 1/4000s
Min
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 30s 30s

Flash
Built-in flash
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 Yes Yes
Popup
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 Yes Yes
External connection
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 Yes Yes

Storage
Storage slots
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 1 2
Supported formats
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 CompactFlash (Type II)
CompactFlash (Type I)		 Memory Stick Duo
SDHC
Memory Stick
SD
Memory Stick PRO Duo
SDHC
SD
Memory Stick
Memory Stick PRO Duo
Memory Stick Duo

DXO Mark Scores
Image quality
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 63.0 66.0
Color depth
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 21.8 bits 21.9 bits
Dynamic range
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 11.4 EV 11.8 EV
Low light performance
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 696 ISO 807 ISO