Both Sony A3000 and Panasonic FZ2500 have 20.0 MP resolution sensors but Sony A3000's sensor is APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) and Panasonic FZ2500's sensor is 1″ (13.2 x 8.8 m ).
Since Sony A3000'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 Panasonic FZ2500.
Below you can see the A3000 and FZ2500 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Sony A3000 and Panasonic FZ2500 Cameras
As seen above, Sony A3000 has a 3.5x Larger sensor area than Panasonic FZ2500. 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
Both Sony A3000 and Panasonic FZ2500 sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark 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. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, A3000 has scored 78, 8 points higher than FZ2500.
Model
Overall
Color Depth
Dynamic Range
Low-light ISO
Sony A3000
78
23.7 bits
12.8 Evs
1068 ISO
Panasonic FZ2500
70
23.0 bits
12.6 Evs
538 ISO
Sensor size sets the circle of confusion, so it drives how much depth of field each
of these bodies gives you at a given aperture. You can calculate it exactly for the
Sony A3000
or the
Panasonic FZ2500 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(APS-C versus 1″ ),
so compare them at the same framing rather than the same focal length.
Put the same focal length on the smaller sensor and it will show less depth of
field, not more, because it also crops tighter. The calculator shows the
full frame equivalent focal length for each body so you can match the framing.
