Nikon L120 vs Sony A35 Comparison

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Nikon L120

14 MP | 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) CCD Sensor

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Sony A35

16 MP | APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) CMOS Sensor

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Nikon L120 vs Sony A35 Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two cameras with different body types: Nikon L120, which was introduced in February 2011 is a Small Sensor Superzoom camera with a 14.0MP 1/2.3-inch sensor whereas Sony A35, which was introduced in September 2011 is a Entry-Level DSLR camera with a 16.0MP APS-C sensor. There is only 7 months difference between L120 and A35 so we are expecting this to be a fair comparison regarding age and technology level.

Comparing a DSLR camera to a Fixed Lens camera is not an easy task but we will do our best to make this a fair comparison.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Nikon L120 and Sony A35 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Nikon L120 Key Specs

Announcement Date: 2011-02-09

14MP - 1/2.3-inch CCD Sensor

ISO 80 - 6400

25-525 mm F3.1-5.8 Zoom Lens

Sensor-shift Image Stabilization

3" Fixed Type Screen

1 fps continuous shooting

HD - 1280 x 720 video resolution

431g. 110 x 77 x 78 mm

Replaced Nikon Coolpix L110 Compare

Sony A35 Key Specs

Announcement Date: 2011-09-20

16MP - APS-C CMOS Sensor

ISO 100 - 25600

Sony/Minolta Alpha Mount

Sensor-shift Image Stabilization

3" Fixed Type Screen

1150k dot Electronic viewfinder

6 fps continuous shooting

Full HD - 1920 x 1080 video resolution

415g. 124 x 92 x 85 mm

Replaced Sony SLT-A33 Compare

Sony A35 was replaced by Sony SLT-A37. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Sony SLT-A37 vs Sony SLT-A35
Sony SLT-A37 vs Nikon Coolpix L120

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Nikon L120 and Sony A35 compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Nikon Coolpix L120 over Sony SLT-A35

Reasons to choose Sony SLT-A35 over Nikon Coolpix L120

External Flash Shoe	Yes vs No	Better for flash photography
Viewfinder	Electronic vs None	Better framing and control
RAW Support	Yes vs No	Better image quality
Max Sensor Resolution	16 MP vs 14 MP	14% more pixels
Max ISO	25.600 vs 6.400	300% higher Max ISO
Number of Focus Points	15 vs 9	6 more focus points
Continuous Shooting	6.0fps vs 1.0fps	5 fps faster
Battery Life	440 shots vs 330 shots	110 more frames with a single charge
Weight	415 g vs 431 g	16 g lighter
Manual Exposure	Yes vs No	better exposure control
Microphone Port	Yes vs No	High quality audio recording option
Flash Coverage	12.0m vs 6.0m	6m longer range
Sensor Pixel Area	22.87µm² vs 2.01µm²	1037% larger pixel area
Max Video Resolution	1920 x 1080 vs 1280 x 720	Higher Resolution Video
AE Bracketing	Yes vs No	Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR

Common Strengths of Nikon Coolpix L120 and Sony SLT-A35

Image Stabilization	Sensor-shift vs Sensor-shift	Sharper images at longer focal lengths and long exposures
Built-in Flash	Yes vs Yes	Useful in low-light
Face Detection Focus	Yes vs Yes	very handy for portraits
LCD Screen Resolution	921k dots vs 921k dots	High resolution screens

Common Weaknesses of Nikon Coolpix L120 and Sony SLT-A35

Fixed Screen	Fixed Type vs No	No flexible viewing angles
Environmental Sealing	No vs No	not suitable for tough conditions

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Nikon L120 vs Sony A35: Physical Specs and Body features Comparison

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 Nikon L120 and Sony A35 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Nikon L120 has external dimensions of 110 x 77 x 78 mm (4.33 x 3.03 x 3.07″) and weighs 431 g (0.95 lb / 15.20 oz) (including batteries). Sony A35 has external dimensions of 124 x 92 x 85 mm (4.88 x 3.62 x 3.35″) and weighs 415 g (0.91 lb / 14.64 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Nikon L120 and Sony A35. Nikon L120 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 14mm narrower, 15mm shorter and 7mm thinner than Sony A35. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Nikon L120 has a built-in lens but Sony A35 doesn't. Once you put a lens on A35, its thickness will increase significantly.

Comparison image of Nikon L120 and Sony A35 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Here is the back view size comparison of Nikon L120 and Sony A35.

Comparison image of Nikon L120 and Sony A35 Size and Weight - Back View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Nikon L120 and Sony A35.

Top View Comparison image of Nikon L120 and Sony A35 Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Sony A35 is 16g lighter than the Nikon L120 but we don't think this will make a significant difference.

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 A35, the total kit will weigh much higher.

Weather Sealing

Unfortunately neither Nikon Coolpix L120 nor Sony SLT-A35 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

Nikon L120 and Sony A35's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3".

Unfortunately, both cameras has fixed screens so they don't tilt or flip in directions.

Nikon L120 vs Sony A35: Sensor Comparison

Nikon L120 has a 14.0MP 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) sized CCD sensor and features Expeed C2 processor. On the other hand, Sony A35 has a 16.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz processor.

Below you can see the L120 and A35 sensor size comparison.

Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon L120 and Sony A35 Cameras

As seen above, Sony A35 has a 13.1x Larger sensor area than Nikon L120. 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.

What types of Photography are Nikon L120 and Sony A35 Good for?

In this section, we rank and compare Nikon L120 and Sony A35 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.

Nikon L120 for Portrait Photography

POOR

Sony A35 for Portrait Photography

GOOD

Image Stabilization
Average Resolution Sensor: 14.0MP
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

Nikon L120 for Street Photography

GOOD

Sony A35 for Street Photography

EXCELLENT

Image Stabilization
Small Body
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
25 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
Large Body
Read the details

Nikon L120 for Sports Photography

POOR

Sony A35 for Sports Photography

GOOD

Image Stabilization
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
525 mm Tele Lens
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
Slow Lens at Tele: f5.80
Read the details

Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
3 Cross Type Focus sensors
15 Focus Points
Average Continuous Shooting: 6.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Nikon L120 for Daily Photography

AVERAGE

Sony A35 for Daily Photography

GOOD

Compact Body
21.0X Optical Zoom
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
431g
Body Thickness 78mm
Read the details

Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Large Body
415g
Body Thickness 85mm
Read the details

Nikon L120 for Landscape Photography

POOR

Sony A35 for Landscape Photography

AVERAGE

25 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Average Resolution Sensor: 14.0MP
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
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Nikon L120 vs Sony A35: OUR DECISION

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 Nikon L120 and Sony A35, 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 Nikon L120 and Sony A35 scores compare:

Nikon L120

Imaging

Features

Value

Portability

Overall

Ranked #216 out of 475 in Compact cameras
Ranked #792 out of 1223 in all Cameras

Sony A35

Imaging

Features

Value

Portability

Overall

Ranked #21 out of 78 in Compact SLR cameras
Ranked #187 out of 1223 in all Cameras

Sony A35 is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Nikon L120 in all criteria except one: Portability.
If small size and light body is a big priority for you, choose Nikon L120. Otherwise, Sony A35 is the better camera overall.

Sony A35 vs Nikon L120 Specs Table

Detailed comparison of specifications

General	Nikon Coolpix L120	Sony SLT-A35
Brand	Nikon	Sony
Announced	2011-02-09	2011-09-20
Body Type	Compact	Compact SLR
Sensor
Type	CCD	CMOS
Size	1/2.3-inch	APS-C
Dimensions	6.17 x 4.55 mm	23.5 x 15.6 mm
Area	28.07mm²	366.60mm²
Megapixels	14 megapixels	16 megapixels
Max Resolution	4320 x 3240	4912 x 3264
Max Native Light sensitivity	6,400 ISO	25,600 ISO
Min Native Light sensitivity	80 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	25-525 mm (21×)	no lens
Max Aperture	F3.1-5.8	no lens
Macro Focus Range	1cm	no lens
Screen
Type	Fixed type	Fixed type
Size	3"	3"
Resolution	921k 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	1/4000s	1/4000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization	Sensor-shift	Sensor-shift
Built-in Flash
Flash Range	6.00 m	12.00 m
Max Flash Sync	n/a	1/160s
External Flash
Continuous Shooting	1.0 fps	6.0 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	Motion JPEG	MPEG-4, AVCHD, H.264
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity	None	None
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight	431g	415g
Dimensions	110 x 77 x 78mm	124 x 92 x 85mm
Battery Life	330 shots	440 shots
Other Features
Timelapse Recording
GPS	None	None
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score	not tested	74
DxO Color Depth	not tested	23.3
DxO Dynamic Range	not tested	12.7
DxO Low Light ISO	not tested	763
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