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Ricoh WG-6 vs Sony a3500 Comparison

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Ricoh WG-6

20 MP | 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) BSI-CMOS Sensor

Ricoh WG-6
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Sony a3500

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

Sony a3500
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Ricoh WG-6 vs Sony a3500 Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two cameras with different body types: Ricoh WG-6, which was introduced in February 2018 is a Waterproof camera with a 20.0MP 1/2.3-inch sensor whereas Sony a3500, which was introduced in March 2014 is a Entry-Level Mirrorless camera with a 20.0MP APS-C sensor. As you can see, a3500 is 4 years older than WG-6. Let's see if this age difference between two cameras makes a big difference.

Comparing an interchangeble lens camera to a fixed lens camera is a bit tricky but we will do our best to make this a fair comparison.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Ricoh WG-6 Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2018-02-21
  • 20MP - 1/2.3-inch BSI-CMOS Sensor
  • ISO 125 - 6400
  • 28-140 mm F3.5-5.5 Zoom Lens
  • Digital only Image Stabilization
  • 3" Fixed Type Screen
  • continuous shooting
  • 4K (UHD) - 3840x2160 video resolution
  • 246g. 118 x 66 x 33 mm
  • Weather Sealed Body
  • Replaced Ricoh WG-5 GPS Compare

Sony a3500 Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2014-03-21
  • 20MP - APS-C CMOS Sensor
  • ISO 100 - 16000
  • Sony E Mount
  • 3" Fixed Type Screen
  • Electronic viewfinder
  • 4 fps continuous shooting
  • Full HD - 1920 x 1080 video resolution
  • 411g. 128 x 91 x 85 mm
  • Replaced Sony Alpha A3000 Compare

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500 compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Ricoh WG-6 over Sony Alpha a3500
Image Stabilization
Digital only vs None Sharper images at longer focal lengths and long exposures
LCD Screen Resolution
1.040k dots vs 230k dots 351% higher resolution screen
Weight
246 g vs 411 g 165 g lighter
Environmental Sealing
Yes vs No shoot at tough conditions
Timelapse Recording
Yes vs No creative shooting
Max Video Resolution
3840x2160 vs 1920 x 1080 Higher Resolution Video
Digital video stabilization
Yes vs No Stabilizes your videos in-camera


Reasons to choose Sony Alpha a3500 over Ricoh WG-6
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 ISO
16.000 vs 6.400 150% higher Max ISO
Number of Focus Points
25 vs 9 16 more focus points
Battery Life
470 shots vs 340 shots 130 more frames with a single charge
Manual Exposure
Yes vs No better exposure control
Flash Coverage
6.0m vs 5.5m 0.5m longer range
Sensor Pixel Area
18.50µm2 vs 1.39µm2 1230% larger pixel area

Common Strengths of Ricoh WG-6 and Sony Alpha a3500
Built-in Flash
Yes vs Yes Useful in low-light
Face Detection Focus
Yes vs Yes very handy for portraits
Max Resolution
20 MP vs 20 MP Bigger prints and more details
AE Bracketing
Yes vs Yes Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR
Common Weaknesses of Ricoh WG-6 and Sony Alpha a3500
Fixed Screen
Fixed Type vs No No flexible viewing angles
Ricoh WG-6 vs Sony a3500: 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 Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Ricoh WG-6 has external dimensions of 118 x 66 x 33 mm (4.65 x 2.6 x 1.3″) and weighs 246 g (0.54 lb / 8.68 oz) (including batteries). Sony a3500 has external dimensions of 128 x 91 x 85 mm (5.04 x 3.58 x 3.35″) and weighs 411 g (0.91 lb / 14.50 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500. Ricoh WG-6 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 10mm narrower, 25mm shorter and 52mm thinner than Sony a3500. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Ricoh WG-6 has a built-in lens but Sony a3500 doesn't. Once you put a lens on a3500, its thickness will increase significantly.

Ricoh WG-6 vs Sony a3500 Camera Size Comparison - Front View
Comparison image of Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500.
Ricoh WG-6 vs Sony a3500 Camera Size Comparison - Top View
Top View Comparison image of Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500 Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Ricoh WG-6 is significantly lighter (165g ) than the Sony a3500 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 a3500, the total kit will weigh much higher.

Weather Sealing

LCD Screen Size and Features

Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500'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.
Ricoh WG-6 vs Sony a3500: Sensor Comparison

Both Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500 have 20.0 MP resolution sensors but Ricoh WG-6's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) and Sony a3500's sensor is APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ).

Since Sony a3500's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Ricoh WG-6.

Below you can see the WG-6 and a3500 sensor size comparison.

Ricoh WG-6 vs Sony a3500 Sensor Size Comparison
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500 Cameras


As seen above, Sony a3500 has a 13.1x Larger sensor area than Ricoh WG-6. 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 Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500 Good for?
In this section, we rank and compare Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500 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.

Ricoh WG-6 for Portrait Photography

POOR

Sony a3500 for Portrait Photography

AVERAGE
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 Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
No Image Stabilization
Read the details

Ricoh WG-6 for Street Photography

GOOD

Sony a3500 for Street Photography

GOOD
Image Stabilization
Small Body
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
Read the details

Ricoh WG-6 for Sports Photography

POOR

Sony a3500 for Sports Photography

GOOD
Image Stabilization
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
140 mm Tele Lens
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
9 Focus Points
Read the details
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
25 Focus Points
Good Low Light ISO
Average Continuous Shooting: 4.0fps
No Image Stabilization
Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Ricoh WG-6 for Daily Photography

GOOD

Sony a3500 for Daily Photography

GOOD
Compact Body
Environmental Sealings
246g
5.0X 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
Medium size Body
411g
Body Thickness 85mm
Read the details

Ricoh WG-6 for Landscape Photography

POOR

Sony a3500 for Landscape Photography

AVERAGE
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Environmental Sealings
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Manual Exposure Mode
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Live-view
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Ricoh WG-6 vs Sony a3500: 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 Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500, 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 Ricoh WG-6 and Sony a3500 scores compare:

Ricoh WG-6
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #72 out of 475 in Compact cameras
Ranked #512 out of 1225 in all Cameras
Sony a3500
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #81 out of 88 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked #344 out of 1225 in all Cameras

Sony a3500 scores higher than the Ricoh WG-6 in Overall. It has better image quality and better value than Ricoh WG-6. On the other hand, Ricoh WG-6 is more portable and has more features than Sony a3500.
If image quality is very important for you and you want to get the most bang for your bucks, choose the Sony a3500.
If you are looking for a small camera where you can take everywhere with you, and having more features are also important, Ricoh WG-6 is the right choice for you.

Ricoh WG-6
Ricoh WG-6
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Sony a3500
Sony a3500
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Sony a3500 vs Ricoh WG-6 Specs Table
Detailed comparison of specifications
General Ricoh WG-6 Sony Alpha a3500
Brand Ricoh Sony
Announced 2018-02-21 2014-03-21
Body Type Compact SLR-style mirrorless
Sensor
Type BSI-CMOS 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 20 megapixels 20 megapixels
Max Resolution 5184 x 3888 5456 x 3632
Max Native Light sensitivity 6,400 ISO 16,000 ISO
Min Native Light sensitivity 125 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 25
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount fixed lens Sony E
Lens Focal Range 28-140 mm (5x) no lens
Max Aperture F3.5-5.5 no lens
Macro Focus Range 1cm no lens
Screen
Type Fixed type Fixed type
Size 3" 3"
Resolution 1,040k dots 230k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder None Electronic
Viewfinder Coverage n/a 100%
Viewfinder Magnification n/a 0.47x
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter 1/4000s 1/4000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization Digital only Optical
Built-in Flash
Flash Range 5.50 m (with Auto ISO) 6.00 m (at ISO200 / 4m at ISO100)
Max Flash Sync n/a 160s
External Flash
Continuous Shooting n/a 4.0 fps
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution 3840x2160 1920 x 1080
Video Formats MPEG-4, H.264 AVCHD, H.264
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity Supports FlashAir SD cards None
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight 246g 411g
Dimensions 118 x 66 x 33mm 128 x 91 x 85mm
Battery Life 340 shots 470 shots
Other Features
Timelapse Recording
GPS Built-in None
DxO Sensor Scores
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