Canon 550D has a
18.0MP APS-C (22.3 x 14.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Digic 4 processor. On the other hand, Sony A57 has a
16.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor .
Below you can see the 550D and A57 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Sony A57 has a 1.1x Larger sensor area than Canon 550D. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Canon 550D and Sony A57 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that A57 has a better overall score of 75, 9 points higher compared to 550D's score of 66.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Canon 550D |
66 |
22.0 bits |
11.6 Evs |
807 ISO |
Sony A57 |
75 |
23.4 bits |
13.0 Evs |
785 ISO |