Sony DSLR-A550 vs Nikon D3S

Nikon D3S advantages over Sony DSLR-A550

• 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.
• Bigger pixels
  ~ 8.46 vs 5.16 microns
  Better low-light and dynamic range (all else equal)
• Fast startup
  ~0.30 vs 0.5 sec
  Faster startup lets you catch the moment
• 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.

  D3S test data on DxO Mark DSLR-A550 test data on DxO Mark
  3,253 vs 807 iso
  Take photos in low light with less noise
• Longer stills battery life
  More info

  Longer stills battery life

  Cameras with longer battery life can take more photos before exhausting their batteries.

  Special note: The measurement standard for battery life stipulates that if a camera has an internal flash, it must be used for 50% of photos taken. For this reason, comparisons of one camera with an internal flash to another without will not be comparable

  4200 vs 950 shots
  Capture more photos
• Top deck display
  Yes vs No
  Check settings with a screen on top of the camera
• Higher max flash sync
  1/250 vs 1/160 sec
  Reduce the effect of ambient light in flash shots
• Pentaprism viewfinder
  Pentaprism vs Pentamirror
  Much better viewfinder picture fidelity
• Shoots 24p video
  Yes vs No
  Gives your movies a big-screen feel
• More viewfinder magnification
  0.70x vs 0.53x
  Get a bigger view of the scene through the eye-level viewfinder
• Dual card slots
  Yes vs No
  Gives you more storage flexibility
• Faster JPEG shooting
  9.0 fps vs 6.7 fps
  Faster JPEG shooting (burst mode)
• Bigger JPEG buffer
  90 vs 15 shots
  Take more JPEG shots before waiting (burst mode)
• Faster shutter
  1/8000 vs 1/4000 sec
  Shoot wide open in bright light
• Higher extended ISO
  102400 vs 12800 ISO
  Higher extended ISO can give more low-light flexibility