Sony DSLR-A500 vs Canon 5DS

Canon 5DS advantages over Sony DSLR-A500

• Lens selection
  Excellent vs Good
  Better lens selection gives you more options
• Larger sensor
  35mm vs APS-C
  More sensor area. Bigger is (generally) better.
• Better color depth

  Better color depth

  Color depth refers to the number of unique colors that a sensor can faithfully capture. Cameras with better color depth will demonstrate smoother transitions from one color to the next, and avoid "banding" in areas with subtle shading. (Blue skies are an example of where you might see color banding.)

  More color depth is generally better, but you'll struggle to notice a difference between two cameras with less than 1 bit of difference. Color depth above 22 bits is considered excellent.

  Want to learn more? Head over to our full glossary entry on color depth

  Color depth test data courtesy of DxO Mark.

  5DS test data on DxO Mark DSLR-A500 test data on DxO Mark
  24.7 vs 21.8 bits
  Capture richer, more accurate colors
• Higher effective ISO

  Higher effective ISO

  Maximum effective ISO is an estimate of the highest sensitivity at which a camera can capture excellent quality photos.

  Cameras with higher effective ISO will be better choices for indoor photography, night shooting, and indoor sports photography, especially if you intend to make large prints.

  You can learn more at our glossary entry.

  Maximum effective ISO test data courtesy of DxO Mark.

  5DS test data on DxO Mark DSLR-A500 test data on DxO Mark
  2,381 vs 772 iso
  Take photos in low light with less noise
• Top deck display
  Yes vs No
  Check settings with a screen on top of the camera
• External Mic Jack
  Jack vs No jack
  Improved sound fidelity when shooting video
• More cross-type AF points
  41 vs 1
  Cross-type AF points improve autofocus performance
• Pentaprism viewfinder
  Pentaprism vs Pentamirror
  Much better viewfinder picture fidelity
• Newer
  10 years vs 15 years old
  Newer cameras often support more advanced features
• Shoots 24p video
  Yes vs No
  Gives your movies a big-screen feel
• More dots on screen
  1044k vs 230k dots
  Can mean greater resolution or a brighter screen
• Shoots 1080p video
  Yes vs No
  You'll want this if you shoot video
• More viewfinder magnification
  0.71x vs 0.53x
  Get a bigger view of the scene through the eye-level viewfinder
• More pixels
  50.6 vs 12.3 megapixels
  Higher resolution photos
• Shoots 60p video
  Yes vs No
  A faster framerate can give you more editing options
• Dual card slots
  Yes vs No
  Gives you more storage flexibility
• More AF points
  61 vs 9
  More AF points improve autofocus
• Bigger JPEG buffer
  28 vs 5 shots
  Take more JPEG shots before waiting (burst mode)
• Faster shutter
  1/8000 vs 1/4000 sec
  Shoot wide open in bright light