Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs.
In this section, We are going to illustrate Canon ELPH 150 IS and Sony A55 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Canon ELPH 150 IS has external dimensions of 95 x 57 x 24 mm (3.74 x 2.24 x 0.94″) and weighs 142 g (0.31 lb / 5.01 oz) (including batteries). Sony A55 has external dimensions of 124 x 92 x 85 mm (4.88 x 3.62 x 3.35″) and weighs 500 g (1.10 lb / 17.64 oz) (including batteries).
Below you can see the front view size comparison of Canon ELPH 150 IS and Sony A55. Canon ELPH 150 IS is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 29mm narrower, 35mm shorter and 61mm thinner than Sony A55. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Canon ELPH 150 IS has a built-in lens but Sony A55 doesn't. Once you put a lens on A55, its thickness will increase significantly.
Comparison image of Canon ELPH 150 IS and Sony A55 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View
Here is the back view size comparison of Canon ELPH 150 IS and Sony A55.
Comparison image of Canon ELPH 150 IS and Sony A55 Size and Weight - Back View
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Canon ELPH 150 IS and Sony A55.
Top View Comparison image of Canon ELPH 150 IS and Sony A55 Size
Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Canon ELPH 150 IS is significantly lighter (358g ) than the Sony A55 which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.
Again, this comparison may not be very useful in real life as we are comparing the weight of a camera with a built-in lens to the body-only weight of an interchangeable lens camera. Once you put a lens on A55, the total kit will weigh much higher.
Weather Sealing
Unfortunately neither Canon PowerShot ELPH 150 IS (IXUS 155) nor Sony SLT-A55 provides any type of weather sealing in their body, so you have to give extra care especially when you are shooting outdoors. If weather sealing is a must-have feature for you, check these sections: Top Compact Cameras with Weather Sealing Top DSLR Cameras with Weather Sealing
LCD Screen Size and Features
Sony A55's 3" LCD screen is slightly larger than Canon ELPH 150 IS's 2.7" screen.
Moreover, Sony A55 sports a
Fully Articulated screen which you can change the angle and position of the screen almost freely, making it possible to shoot from waist or over the head levels, and especially very useful for shooting selfies and video. On the other hand, Canon ELPH 150 IS has a fixed type screen which provides almost no flexibility in shooting positions compared to A55.
Canon ELPH 150 IS has a 20.0MP 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) sized CCD sensor and features Digic 4+ processor. On the other hand, Sony A55 has a 16.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz processor.
Below you can see the ELPH 150 IS and A55 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Canon ELPH 150 IS and Sony A55 Cameras
As seen above, Sony A55 has a 13.1x Larger sensor area than Canon ELPH 150 IS. 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.
In this section, we rank and compare Canon ELPH 150 IS and Sony A55 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.
Canon ELPH 150 IS for Portrait Photography
Sony A55 for Portrait Photography
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Image Stabilization
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
Read the details
Canon ELPH 150 IS for Street Photography
Sony A55 for Street Photography
Image Stabilization
Small Body
Live-view
24 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Fully Articulated LCD Screen
Large Body
Read the details
Canon ELPH 150 IS for Sports Photography
Sony A55 for Sports Photography
Image Stabilization
240 mm Tele Lens
Average Max shutter speed: 1/2000s
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Slow Continuous Shooting: 1.0fps
Environmental Sealings
9 Focus Points
Poor Battery Life: 230 shots
Slow Lens at Tele: f6.90
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Continuous Shooting: 10.0fps
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
3 Cross Type Focus sensors
15 Focus Points
Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Canon ELPH 150 IS for Daily Photography
Sony A55 for Daily Photography
Compact Body
142g
10.0X Optical Zoom
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Large Body
500g
Body Thickness 85mm
Read the details
Canon ELPH 150 IS for Landscape Photography
Sony A55 for Landscape Photography
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
24 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Live-view
Built-in GPS
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Canon ELPH 150 IS and Sony A55, below you can find their scores in five different aspects.
Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.
Here is a summary of how Canon ELPH 150 IS and Sony A55 scores compare:
Canon ELPH 150 IS
Ranked
#94 out of 155 in Ultracompact cameras
Ranked
#1051 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Sony A55
Ranked
#11 out of 78 in Compact SLR cameras
Ranked
#157 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Sony A55 is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Canon ELPH 150 IS in all criteria except one: Portability.
If small size and light body is a big priority for you, choose Canon ELPH 150 IS. Otherwise, Sony A55 is the better camera overall.
General |
Canon PowerShot ELPH 150 IS |
Sony SLT-A55 |
Brand |
Canon |
Sony |
Announced |
2014-02-12 |
2010-08-24 |
Body Type |
Ultracompact |
Compact SLR |
Sensor |
|
|
Type |
CCD |
CMOS |
Size |
1/2.3" |
APS-C |
Dimensions |
6.17 x 4.55 mm |
23.5 x 15.6 mm |
Area |
28.07mm2 |
366.60mm2 |
Megapixels |
20 megapixels |
16 megapixels |
Max Resolution |
5152 x 3864 |
4912 x 3264 |
Max Native Light sensitivity |
1,600 ISO |
12,800 ISO |
Max Boosted Light Sensitivity |
- |
25600 ISO |
Min Native Light sensitivity |
100 ISO |
100 ISO |
RAW Support |
|
|
Autofocus |
|
|
AF Touch |
|
|
AF Continuous |
|
|
AF Single |
|
|
AF Tracking |
|
|
AF Selective |
|
|
AF Center |
|
|
AF Multi Area |
|
|
AF Live View |
|
|
AF Face Detection |
|
|
AF Contrast Detection |
|
|
AF Phase Detection |
|
|
Number of Focus Points |
9 |
15 |
Lens |
|
|
Manual Focus |
|
|
Lens Mount |
fixed lens |
Sony/Minolta Alpha |
Lens Focal Range |
24-240 mm (10×) |
no lens |
Max Aperture |
F3.0-6.9 |
no lens |
Macro Focus Range |
1cm |
no lens |
Screen |
|
|
Type |
Fixed type |
Fully Articulated |
Size |
2.7" |
3" |
Resolution |
230k dots |
921k dots |
Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
Viewfinder |
None |
Electronic |
Viewfinder Resolution |
no electronic viewfinder |
1,150k dots |
Viewfinder Coverage |
n/a |
100% |
Viewfinder Magnification |
n/a |
0.73x |
Photography Features |
|
|
Max Mechanical Shutter |
1/2000s |
1/4000s |
Shutter Priority |
|
|
Aperture Priority |
|
|
Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
Custom White Balance |
|
|
Image Stabilization |
Optical |
Sensor-shift |
Built-in Flash |
|
|
Flash Range |
4.00 m |
10.00 m (@ ISO 100) |
Max Flash Sync |
n/a |
1/160s |
External Flash |
|
|
Continuous Shooting |
1.0 fps |
10.0 fps |
Multi-Segment |
|
|
Average |
|
|
Spot |
|
|
Partial |
|
|
AF-Area |
|
|
Center Weighted |
|
|
AE Bracketing |
|
|
WB Bracketing |
|
|
Video Features |
|
|
Max Video Resolution |
1280 x 720 |
1920 x 1080 |
Video Formats |
H.264 |
MPEG-4, AVCHD, H.264 |
Microphone Port |
|
|
Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
Wireless Connectivity |
None |
Eye-Fi Connected |
HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
Environmental Sealing |
|
|
Weight |
142g |
500g |
Dimensions |
95 x 57 x 24mm |
124 x 92 x 85mm |
Battery Life |
230 shots |
380 shots |
Other Features |
|
|
Timelapse Recording |
|
|
GPS |
None |
BuiltIn |
DxO Sensor Scores |
|
|
DxO Overall Score |
not tested |
73 |
DxO Color Depth |
not tested |
23.0 |
DxO Dynamic Range |
not tested |
12.4 |
DxO Low Light ISO |
not tested |
816 |
|
Report a correction |
Report a correction |